STORE SPACES

Industry vet Tony Mancini named CEO of Global Visual Group
New York -- Global Visual Group (GVG) has appointed 30-year retailing veteran Tony Mancini as CEO. Mancini has held significant senior executive leadership positions, including Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Mirage Design Group and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts/Walt Disney Imagineering, leading its global capital development portfolios worldwide.
SPECS 2015: Three Store Planning Innovation Takeways
Chain Store Age hosted its 51st annual SPECS 2015 conference on March 15-17, in Las Vegas. Here are three takeways from the conference concerning technological innovation in the store planning area:

1. Overflowing Shelves are the Enemy
For most brick-and-mortar retailers, having shelves chock full of merchandise with every possible variation (such as size and color) is the definition of successful merchandising. But in actuality, overflowing shelves leave store associates too busy to assist customers, who are left overwhelmed.

Trader Joe’s: Time-lapse construction video

Trader Joe’s will open its first-ever Schaumburg (Illinois) location on March 20, at Woodfield Village Green, a 687,015-sq.-ft. foot shopping center owned by DDR.

Check out this quick time-lapse video of the nine-month construction process, which involved filling in a man-made retention pond and building the store on top.
Three Tech-Themed Sessions at SPECS

Chain Store’s Age’s 51st annual SPECS Conference starts on March 15, at the Sands Expo at the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas. The conference is focused on store planning/design, equipment, construction and facility services — all areas where technology is beginning to play an increasingly important role. Here are three SPECS sessions where the role of technology will be highlighted:

Nadia Shourabora
First Martha Stewart Café opening in New York

New York - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is opening its first Martha Stewart Cafe, in the Starrett-Lehigh building, home to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's corporate headquarters. The cafe will offer handcrafted espresso beverages and teas.

The menu, personally curated by Martha Stewart, will serve hot beverages, cold-brew iced coffee, artisanal loose-leaf teas, and pastries. The cafe is partnering with Kobrick Coffee, a New York City-based and family-owned roaster, and Wei Bertram of Connecticut-based Arogya Tea,
C-Spire Wireless puts a fresh spin on wireless retail

Dayton, Ohio -- C-Spire Wireless is looking to redefine wireless shopping with a hands-in, interactive experience in an environment that challenges industry conventions.
Walmart to share LED lighting insights at SPECS

New York -- From parking lots to refrigerated cases, Walmart has helped pioneer the use of LED lighting. And the discounter shows no signs of stopping, having recently made headlines with its use of solid-state ceiling lighting. Walmart will share insights and learnings gained from its LED lighting deployments at Chain Store Age’s 51st annual SPECS Conference, March 15 – 17, Sands Expo at the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas.
T2, New York

Australian specialty tea retailer T2 has made its U.S. debut, opening a store in the heart of Manhattan's Soho neighborhood. The shop stocks over 200 teas from around the globe along with an extensive assortment of teapots, cups, sifters and other related items.
Insights: Focus on Forever 21’s new format, F21 red

For Los Angeles-based fashion retailer Forever 21, the journey from a single location on Figueroa Street in L.A. in 1984 to more than 680 global locations today has been transformative. Over the last three decades, the brand has not shied away from innovation and experimentation, implementing a range of different store sizes and concepts along the way: from smaller 5,000-sq.-ft. layouts in its early years, to larger 9,000-sq.-ft. concepts in the 2000s and a range of big-box stores that range up to 40,000 sq. ft.
Fitch names Hermann Behrens to new post of CEO, North American

New York -- Retail and brand consultancy Fitch has appointed Hermann Behrens to the newly created role of CEO, North America, effective immediately. Behrens will lead the business out of Fitch’s newly established office in New York.

Behrens will be responsible for expanding Fitch’s reputation and client base in North America. He will work closely with the management teams at the company’s design studio in Columbus, Ohio and its architecture and engineering practices in Phoenix, Atlanta and Irvine.