Content about Print

Mark your calendars now: On Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, for the third consecutive year, the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) will unofficially kick off the annual National Retail Federation Convention and EXPO by bringing together some of retailing’s most prominent IT thinkers in a high-level information-sharing event. Called SuperSaturday, this year’s forum will be held at the PwC Auditorium, 300 Madison Ave., New York City. 


The retail workforce is typically young, inherently social and incredibly smart. Optimizing the power of these employees will require retailers to develop social, “gamified” platforms that enable associates to connect with each other, their work, rich information/content and real-time inventory information. The vision: People, inventory and work are all accessible via a social networking platform. Work is performed collaboratively, and with an array of available resources.


Christmas may be right around the corner, but retailers can still do a lot in the final weeks leading up to the big day by making last-minute tweaks that can impact how and where consumers shop this season. Thanks to the flexibility of the Web, e-commerce, mobile and social networking channels are rich with opportunities for retailers to lure shoppers in and keep them coming back for more.


Product diversification combined with major growth always translates into increased supply chain complexity. Such was the case for online specialty retailer Hayneedle, which started business in 2002 as Hammocks.com with a single-niche category site. Flash forward seven years, and the company had expanded its offerings to include more than 200 product categories. Given its growing business, an optimized distribution process became a top company priority. 


Amid an uneven and slow recovery at home and financial volatility in established European markets, U.S. chain retailers are increasingly looking to emerging global markets to expand operations, increase overall revenues and gain a competitive advantage. The reasons are obvious: Consumer spending is on the rise in many of these areas, boosted by, in some instances for the first time ever, a growing middle class. Equally important, emerging markets present significant opportunities for store growth.


The rapid growth of multichannel sales has put new pressure on retailers to find a way to fulfill orders fast and inexpensively. Among the more innovative strategies is Kiva Systems’ mobile-robotic fulfillment system. Kiva’s Mitch Rosenberg, VP marketing and product management, discusses the company’s solution, which is designed to enable extremely fast cycle times with reduced labor requirements, from receiving to picking to shipping — all without conveyor.

An active post office no more, The Old Post Office Pavilion has secured its survival over the decades via a myriad of commercial uses. 


Retailers sometimes overlook the common areas that surround their shop. The outdoor landscape can be the unspoiled extension of shop interiors, providing indoor and outdoor continuity for a positive shopping experience that enthralls all our senses. Interior plants and landscaping work together synergistically to create store interiors that are more favorable for retail activity.

Sustainability is fundamental to The Timberland Co., which has committed to reducing its environmental footprint by cutting emissions from its facilities and stores by 50%. The company has identified lighting, which accounts for a significant portion of its total energy use, as a prime source for energy reduction. In 2009, it replaced incandescent and halogen track and flood lighting in many of its stores with LED technology.


Albert Boscov, chairman and CEO of Boscov’s Department Stores, began his retail career at the ripe age of 6 when his father Solomon Boscov, the company’s founder, ‘hired’ him to catch flies in the family-owned store in downtown Reading, Pa. Little Albert didn’t have to travel very far: The store, founded in 1911, was located upstairs in the building where he and his family lived. 


Twitter and Facebook aren’t just for consumer networking anymore. 


With more and more retailers and shopping centers jumping on the social media bandwagon, Chain Store Age and Cleveland-based shopping center developer Forest City Enterprises surveyed CSA’s readership to find out where retailers are trending in terms of social media engagement and communication tools.


With more than 6,800 stores nationwide, Family Dollar is a leader when it comes to operating a tight ship. Most recently, with threats of rising operating costs, the Matthews, N.C.-based discounter put a renewed focus on inventory management. An important priority: automating inventory auditing operations in an effort to speed up the recording process and improve reporting accuracy.