STORE SPACES

Commercial retail is a unique and rapidly changing space. With the rise of online shopping, retailers are creatively adapting to improve the experience of being in a physical store. Strategies like experiential retail make shopping a personalized and engaging experience instead of a simple transaction.   Retailers are also providing customers with a more tech-friendly brick-and-mortar shopping experience in response to online competitors – the prevalence of self-serve check-out stations being just one example.   

Chick-fil-A is going big in the Big Apple with a location that will also include some atypical features for the chain.    The company will open its third restaurant in Manhattan, on Fulton Street in the Financial District, in 2018. At more than 12,000 sq. ft., it will be the chain's largest location to date, with five levels, complete with a rooftop terrace for dining. It will feature design elements that have never been featured at a Chick-fil-A restaurant before.  

Japanese fast-fashion retailer Uniqlo is going all out for denim in Los Angeles.   The company, part of Fast Retailing Group, will open a special store dedicated to denim in the Arts District of Los Angeles this fall/winter. The new "denim concept" shop will be Uniqlo's 47th location in the U.S., and ninth in the L.A. region following the opening at Westfield Santa Anita mall earlier in September.  

Design Within Reach has unveiled its new location at NorthPark Center in Dallas.    At nearly 13,500 sq. ft., the space is three times the size of the previous temporary space the company occupied at the center. The retailer partnered with New York-based architecture firm DFA to bring the new store to life.  

Ikea is looking to expand its presence in Arizona.    The home furnishings retailer plans to open a store in Glendale, Arizona. It would be the company's second location in the state.  

American Eagle Outfitters is entering an emerging global retail market.   The teen retailer is preparing for its debut in India. American Eagle’s expansion will be supported through a multi-year license agreement with the Aditya Birla Group. The Indian conglomerate has an extensive retail portfolio, as well as strong digital and omnichannel capabilities.    The first stores are expected to open in Mumbai and Delhi in Spring 2018.  

Walgreens Boots Alliance secured regulatory approval for a deal to buy stores from Rite Aid Corp. after a reduction in the number of stores and price. The deal will still enable Walgreens to dramatically increase its store footprint, giving it a total of about 10,000 U.S. locations.   

Nordstrom has opened its sixth location in Canada.    The department store retailer on Friday opened its doors at CF Sherway Gardens, its third full-line location in Toronto. The two-level, 140,000-sq.-ft. store follows the retailer's openings at Toronto's CF Toronto Eaton Centre and Yorkdale Shopping Centre last fall. The opening comes as rumors mount that the company is about to go private in a buyout deal. http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/nordstrom-edging-closer-going-private