Blogger: Steve Jobs' greatest invention was the Apple Store

April 23, 2012

In his blog last week, Chris Maxcer wrote that he believes Steve Jobs' greatest achievement wasn't the iPhone, iPod, iTunes, iPad or white earbuds.

A conversation about building great retail window displays

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

This weekend, MSNBC's "Your Business" ran a segment on the venerable retail window display, and how the basics of good window design are the same for everyone…

New Balance opens Boston 'Experience' store

April 13, 2012

New Balance is stepping up its game with a new 2,500-square-foot high-tech store at Copley Square in Boston that opens today. The store features artistic…

Big-box retailers shifting focus to smaller stores

April 12, 2012

Big-box retail came alive in 1962, when Walmart, K-Mart, and Target opened their first stores, but after nearly 50 years of kicking mom-and-pop shops to the…

Disney Store celebrates 25th anniversary

March 27, 2012

Disney Store will celebrate its 25th anniversary on March 28 at stores nationwide, and in recognition of this milestone, Disney Store will give the first 25…

Starbucks opens store built from shipping containers

March 20, 2012

Starbucks has opened a drive-thru location built out of recycled shipping containers. The store opened in December in Tukwila, Wash., and features four…

Frank Mayer, Mizuno come out swinging with new modular displays

March 16, 2012

Frank Mayer & Associates has teamed up with Mizuno to design and produce a line of modular sporting goods displays to showcase their products. The displays…

Museums increasing branding with upscale stores

March 15, 2012

The gift shop inside New York's Museum of Arts and Design feels more like a trendy place to shop than a museum store, thanks to Franci Sagar's creativity…

2012 Retail Customer Experience Top 100

Once again, our team of retail experts sat down to identify the hundreds of trends, technologies, brands, strategies and people that are having an impact on…

Presented by RetailCustomerExperience.com

GlobalShop 2012: Family Dollar using new technology to get 'on-site insight' to increase sales

Retailers can measure customer shopping patterns with ShopperGauge.

Starbucks opens first ski-thru location

February 17, 2012

Skiers talented enough to drink coffee while skiing may be happy to hear that Squaw Valley USA, a ski resort in California, has opened the world's first…

Smaller boxes work for Whole Foods

Whole Foods Markets' push to target smaller markets with smaller stores is performing well above expectations.

Apple: Et tu, Verizon?

February 16, 2012

Microsoft isn’t the only store copying Apple’s retail strategy, according to 9to5mac.com, a rumor website. It claims that Verizon took inspirations from Apple…

RaceTrac rolling out new design

February 14, 2012

RaceTrac Petroleum is building nearly 140 convenience stores this year, and some of them will be in the form of the chain's new 6,000-square-foot prototype…

Duane Reade wins design award

February 8, 2012

Duane Reade's flagship store in Manhattan's financial district took first place honors in the Convenience Store/Pharmacy category at the Retail Design…

Consumer Reports rates Costco as top major retail chain

February 7, 2012

Costco pleased shoppers better than any other retailer, according to a Consumer Reports survey of more than 26,000 readers, who told the organization about…

Dressing rooms offering customized experience

January 30, 2012

When C. Wonder, a trendy boutique in Westfield Garden State Plaza in New Jersey, opened on Black Friday, customers were more excited about the fitting room…

Calculating ROI for Digital Signage

Initial investments can pay off quickly, both in hard and soft returns.

Study: Common perceptions about how video is used in shopping are incorrect

Consumers expect video as part of their shopping experience and rely on it when making purchase decisions.

The one and only question facing Sears

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Amid the sounds of tearing gift wrap and popping champagne corks, ailing giant Sears Holdings Corp. announced over the holidays its intent to close as many as…