Retail Stores

Office Depot will open 13 newly remodeled locations in the Houston area on March 28. The updated stores feature more colorful signage and easy-to-navigate floor plans. The stores were redesigned based on customer feedback and shopping patterns. Office Depot operates 1,677 stores in 60 countries, 46 of which are located in the Houston area.

Since e-tailers are generally less expensive than brick-and-mortar retailers, shoppers order online from their smartphone and walk out of the store empty-handed. Simply put, brick-and-mortar stores are facing a harsh reality: they're quickly becoming showrooms for e-tailers.

The mystery is how lululemon athletica has managed to turn yoga gear into a small empire, notching a market value of $10.4 billion with sales of just $712 million last year, and whether it can sustain the pace. After all, in the prior quarter it booked a record $1,800 in sales per square foot — more than three times luxury kingpin Neiman Marcus’ sales for its most recent full year.

The Wave 2 2011-2012 Empathica Consumer Insights Panel surveyed more than 5,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers on their sentiments toward luxury goods purchases, from overall customer service to preferred shopping channels and service levels to product research behaviors. The survey was conducted within a broader look at consumer spending behaviors and intentions based on current economic factors.

The Bodymetrics Pod was recently showcased in a Bloomingdale's store in Los Angeles as part of the store's Women's Denim Days event. The futuristic looking capsule uses eight Windows Kinect sensors to 360-degree scan your body before finding a pair of jeans that can fit and flatter your body type. The body mapping only takes five seconds and requires the user to stand upright with the arms and legs apart inside the pod.

Customer loyalty is increasingly a marker for success, especially as brands compete for market share and look for ways to grow and maintain a loyal customer base. Given the influence of social media, engendering loyalty becomes all the more important for brands because they can be impacted by positive recommendations or negative comments shared among consumers.

Video game retailer GameStop reported that profit for the quarter ended Jan. 28 dropped 27 percent to $174.7 million from $237.8 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted profit, however, matched predictions, as results included $64.6 million in asset impairment and restructuring charges. 

A Malaysian shoe store is offering to help shoppers meet their Mr. Right. Shoes Shoes Shoes, a footwear boutique based in Kuala Lumpur, is making headlines thanks to its shoe dating campaign, which throws in a "free man" with every shoe purchase. 

It seems even high prices at the pump can't keep the Easter Bunny away this year.  According to NRF's Easter spending survey, Americans will shell out an average of $145.28 on everything from apparel and candy to food and decorations this year, up 11 percent from $131.04 last year.

It seems impossible to believe now, but Sam Walton once had Kmart envy. The legendary founder of what's now earth's largest retailer was so envious of his competitor that he would tour its stores, openly gushing.