STORES Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 22)

trEnDS 10 THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED Throwing in the trowel … Home Depot is pruning the sixyear-old Landscape Supply chain from its retail portfolio, but has found a willing buyer in Ram Realty Services. Ram, a developer involved in several Palm Beach County, Fla., shopping centers and mixed-use projects, is paying $22 million for 11 Landscape Supply locations in the Atlanta and Dallas markets. Compiled by David P. Schulz 1 locations plus unspecified numbers of Lane Bryant and Catherine’s Plus Size units — represent about 13 percent of the company’s store base. In addition, this year’s capital budget has been slashed $40 million, or roughly 30 percent. Now the retailer is removing jeweler Finlay Enterprises from 94 of the 316 licensed departments operating inside Macy’s locations. The separation is scheduled to be completed by Jan. 31, 2009, though Finlay will continue to operate in Bloomingdale’s stores. Paper clip chain … Unable to find merger partners on this side of the Atlantic, Staples has cast its sights on Europe, making a $3.66 billion offer for Dutch office supply rival Corporate Express. Staples More transparency … Wal-Mart is one of 10 companies — and the only retailer — being asked to reveal its corporate political contributions so shareholders can “fully evaluate” how corporate assets are being used, says New York City comptroller William Thompson. Neither Thompson (acting in his role as overseer of city pension fund investments) nor a spokesman in his office indicated how such disclosure would improve or strengthen current practices. 6 Apple of their i … Wal-Mart remains the largest music retailer in the country, according to the latest data from market research firm NPD Group, but 2 Useful knowledge … “An educated consumer is our best customer” may not be the catch-phrase it once was, but a study by Vertis Communications found that 83 percent of shoppers research merchandise prior to entering a store, up from 60 percent in 2004. The study found that 57 percent of adults will peruse advertising circulars, half will conduct Internet research and 38 percent will utilize catalogs to retrieve additional information. 8 4 iTunes has moved into the runner-up position. Apple’s online iTunes service pushed ahead of Best Buy and Target in NPD’s survey of unit volume based on 12track CD equivalency for music downloads. NPD also found that 10 percent of U.S. music purchases last year came via legal downloads. Parting ways … Macy’s continues to reinvent itself in the wake of its acquisition of May Department Stores and subsequent adoption of only two nameplates — Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s — on all its stores. Scooter chic … Target has purchased a fleet of Segway motorized personal transporters for use by security personnel at more than 150 stores. Target security operatives will use the units to patrol parking lots and surrounding areas in markets such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle. 7 Better late than never … Apparel retailer Christopher & Banks is finally launching an Internet shopping site for its own stores and a separate site for its C.J. Banks chain. “I can’t speak to why we’re late to the party,” says Lorna Nagler, CEO of the Minnesota-based retailer. “The good news is that you get to learn a lot from what other people have done. We may be late, but I think we’re a lot smarter.” 9 attempted a friendly merger with contract-sales specialist Corporate Express before launching the unsolicited takeover bid. Slimming down … Plus-size women’s apparel retailer Charming Shoppes is eliminating about 200 full-time jobs and will close 150 stores this year, including all four Petite Sophisticates units launched in 2007. The closures — 100 Fashion Bug 5 3 Goodbye Dixy, Hello Texas … Church’s Chicken is making a giant leap into the U.K. with the conversion of Dixy Chicken franchises into Texas Chicken, the name it will be using in Great Britain. The move will make Texas Chicken the second-largest quickserve chicken chain in the U.K., behind KFC. This is Church’s second expansion in Europe (it opened several locations in Russia last December), and the company plans to enter India later this year. 10 22 STORES / APRIL 2008 WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - April 2008

STORES Magazine - April 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page More Retailers Bagging Monthly Comp-Store Reports Time-Warner Center's Economy-Defying Results What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Eating Locally Grocery Concept2Watch Restaurants Online Services Marketing Human Resources Product Lifecycle Management E-Commerce: Peer Reviews Drive Online Buyers Kiosks Recycling Operations Payment Systems POS Logistics E-Commerce: Getting Personal Website Management LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - April 2008

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