Ikea has been experimenting with alternative formats and pop-up style concepts for some time now as they pursue a strategy to reach consumers in new ways and target more urban dwellers who don’t have easy access to their remote Suburban stores. This year marks the…
Target delivered a stellar same store sales increase of 4.9%, driven by an increase of store traffic of 6.4%. The last time Target had a quarter that good was in 2005, when the threat of e-commerce and a crippling recession factored into no one’s plans….
Elvis Costello’s lyrics “Don’t bury me ‘cause I’m not dead yet” seem to be a fitting way to characterize a busy week of retail earnings on Wall Street. While there were disappointments (watch out, JCPenney), the strong showings of stalwart brick-and-mortar retailers like Home Depot…
Google retail isn’t just mini-putt courses and doughnut shops anymore. In case you missed it, fun pop-up concepts defined Google’s entry into physical retail. But now, Google is getting serious and announced today that it will open its first permanent flagship store in Chicago’s trendy…
While not nearly as dramatic as Walmart’s $18 billion bet on Flipkart India, their recent announcement to invest $320 million in China’s Dada-JD Daojia could provide a glimpse into the future of retail. China is a fascinating market to study retail’s evolution. It is the…
The recently remodeled Walmart Supercenter in Salem, New Hampshire may provide an interesting glimpse as to what retail will look like in the future. But, if you’re expecting Jetsons-like customer facing features (I know, I date myself by merely mentioning the cartoon…), you are likely…
It’s been a busy week for Starbucks. After acquiring Milan-based Princi last year, Starbucks finally opened the first of what is planned to be a 1,000 store standalone bakery concept in their hometown of Seattle. Customers have been able to sample Princi goods inside their…
Earlier this month, Nike debuted its first “live concept store” in the Melrose shopping district of Los Angeles. Dubbed “Nike by Melrose,” a concept developed by members of the neighborhood. How so? The inaugural Nike Live store harnesses information from both Nike.com sales and Nike…
In March, President Donald Trump caused a stir by accusing Amazon of paying little or no state and local taxes. Research then concluded President Trump was wrong (imagine that?); Amazon does pay sales tax. True, this was a more recent development, within the last few…
As Coldplay, once sung, “I used to rule the world, felt the fear in my enemies’ eyes…” After 30 years of watching the retail space, I have seen Sears move from the world’s most dominant (and feared) retail company to an afterthought today. Walmart’s era…
