Retail Stores

From pick-up only parking spaces and curbside delivery services to scan-and-go checkouts and touchless shopping, stores look different now than just a few years ago. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers knew they needed their stores to become more than just a point of sale and started to make changes. Over the last two years,…

Providing a great in-store experience for your customers is one of the best ways they can engage with your brand. This could include having an easy-to-navigate store layout, signage for wayfinding, the ability to interact with products, the opportunity to learn from demonstrations or educational events, and technology to help find products and checkout smoothly.…

Retail sales in the U.S. were stagnant in July according to the latest Census Bureau numbers, which analysts say is an indication of inflation's impact on consumer spending. A collective $682.8 billion was spent in July, relatively unchanged from the previous month. The national average gasoline price dropped to about $4.27 per gallon in the…

Although it may feel like the past two years have radically changed retail, many consumer expectations are still the same, just fast-tracked. To meet these expectations, physical stores need to get creative with crafting unique experiences, including using pop-up shops, providing exclusive products and experiences, and managing their supply chain and inventory effectively and sustainably.…

Federal regulators have fined Family Dollar more than $1.2 million in penalties related to safety violations at two Ohio stores, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday and CNBC reports. In January and February of this year, OSHA inspected Family Dollar stores in Columbus and Maple Heights and found blocked exits, unstable stacks…

Amazon.com announced on Monday that Prime members in some U.S. metro areas can now get same-day delivery from select retail stores. At launch, members in Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; Las Vegas; Miami; Phoenix; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. can shop from PacSun, GNC, SuperDry, and Diesel on the Amazon app and Amazon.com and receive their items the…

Real estate is one of the largest operating expenses for retailers worldwide. Second only to labor costs, rent can account for more than 30 percent of expenses and, according to research from JLL and IBIS World, can absorb up to 13 percent of sales revenue. However, despite their significance, leases aren't always properly managed. According…

Sports apparel retailer Lids announced this week that it's launching a new retail concept called Lids University, or Lids U, dedicated to apparel and sports products for the college market. Lids U, which was created as a space for fans to purchase products from their favorite schools, will open in key college markets and serve each…

One of America's most iconic toy stores is returning to brick-and-mortar retail just in time for this year's holiday season, reports NBC News. Toys"R"Us will open shops inside every Macy's store in the U.S. by mid-October, part of a rollout that began last year, the companies announced in a release on Monday. The in-store shops…

Retail sales increased in June even as inflation climbed higher and drove up prices across the board, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said last week. NRF’s calculation of retail sales, which is based on Census numbers but excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants, reported that June was up 0.6 percent from May and up 5.8…