STORE SPACES

Gap Inc. shifting focus—and store footprint—to two brands
Gap Inc. is shifting its emphasis to its two best-performing brands — and realigning its store portfolio to reflect its new emphasis.
Report: Alibaba to open a physical mall in China
An e-commerce giant is making a big push into the brick-and-mortar world. Alibaba, China’s largest online sales platform, is building its own shopping mall, with a goal of enriching the real-world shopping experience with technology and convenience, reported MarketWatch.

The mattress wars are heating up

There's more disruption in the mattress category at retail. West Elm has entered into a partnership with hot online mattress company Leesa Sleep, which will replace another hot online startup — Casper — as the home furnishings retailer's official mattress partner. The news come on the heels of Casper's announcement that it will open up more than a dozen pop-up stores in cities nationwide.
New stores fuel online growth

Brick-and-mortar stores are crucial to supporting a retailer's e-commerce growth.
Home furnishings giant to open flagship in New York

Pottery Barn is bringing its new store concept to the city where it all began. The retailer, a division of Williams-Sonoma, will unveil a 17,000-sq.-ft. flagship on September 8, 2017, in Manhattan's Flatiron District. (The first Pottery Barn store opened in 1949 in the West Chelsea section of lower Manhattan.)
Sporting goods retailer in new store openings

It's going to be a busy September for Dick's Sporting Goods. The retailer will open eight namesake stores and two new Field & Stream stores in the first half of September, including three locations in California. The openings will give the company 711 Dick's locations and 34 Field & Stream locations across the country.
Casper extending reach into brick-and-mortar

Online mattress start-up Casper is getting more upfront with shoppers. The fast-growing company plans to open some 15 pop-up shops in cities across North America, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The pop-ups are scheduled to launch in October 2017, and will remain open through spring of 2018.
Chute Gerdeman acquired

Retail design firm Chute Gerdeman has been acquired by FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding) Chicago, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. The Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman will now align with FCB/RED, the company's retail and shopper marketing division, to deliver full omnichannel retail marketing and connected physical branded experiences.
Dyson to set up shop in the U.S.

The British brand best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans and, most recently, high-tech hair-dryers is expanding its fledgling retail portfolio. Dyson Ltd. will open a "Dyson Demo" store this fall at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto. Also in the works: a store at 640 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and one in San Francisco's Union Square.
Westfield in partnership with Uber

Westfield’s billion-dollar renovation of its Century City Mall in Los Angeles will include a swanky Uber Lounge where customers can wait in style for their rides. The shopping center owner has formed a partnership with Uber to facilitate use of shared rides at its centers nationwide. The mall owner will create drop-off and pick-up stations at every one of its U.S. properties, whose locations will be digitally mapped into the Uber app. The idea: make pick-ups and drop-offs easier and build mall traffic.