Retail Stores

The Container Store announced it will open six locations in 2012, making this the largest real estate growth year in the company's history and bringing the company's store count to 59 by year's end.

Clothing retailer Esprit, struggling to recover from last year's 98 percent earnings slump, plans to close all stores in North America after failing to find a buyer for the unprofitable business.

About 40 percent of the men and women in relationships expect to get engaged on Valentine's Day this year, according to a new study. Sears, hoping to profit from the findings, has expanded its assortment of jewelry by 60 percent this year to feature a wider selection of watches, pendants and engagement rings.

Love may not cost a thing, but consumers this year are set to spoil their friends, family and loved ones this Valentine's Day in a very big way. According to the National Retail Federation's 2012 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, the average person celebrating the holiday will shell out $126.03, up 8.5 percent over last year's $116.21 and the highest in the survey's 10-year history. Total spending is expected to reach $17.6 billion. 

Think about it: A century ago, shopkeepers and customers actually knew each other by name since their visits were frequent. Loyalty wasn’t a function of points, deals or discounts, but of service. Relationships were built on trust. Merchants knew their customers’ likes and dislikes and strived to deliver on those preferences. Putting purchases “on account” was done in part because some payments were done via barter and some were handled by the “man of the house,” who settled the account at a later time.

Louis Vuitton has opened a new Maison flagship store within the former Etoile, Rome's first cinema. It includes a library and a screening room as part of the brand's program to support the Italian film industry.

When Ron Johnson broke the news to Steve Jobs that he was leaving Apple to become CEO of J.C. Penney, his boss' first question was, "Are you serious?" Johnson has received the same reaction countless times since that day last year in Mr. Jobs' living room. And the surprises didn't end with his decision to depart the world's hottest brand for a struggling department-store group.

Trans World Entertainment, the parent company of FYE and Suncoast, is closing an additional 52 stores after a drop in sales this past holiday season. Trans World has closed more than 550 stores since 2006 and will have 390 stores left after this latest round of closings.

The battle for shoppers' hearts and minds used to take place mainly outside of the store itself in the promotional campaigns that drove people to a brick-and-mortar choice. Now it's a ground game. Who can get shopper consciousness in the store? How can retailers add value to their own mobile experience so the mobilized consumer defaults to their store's app or mobile site?

Apple was the top global brand in the fourth quarter, according to General Sentiment's Q4 Top Global Brands Report. The report ranks global brands based on "impact media value," using a proprietary methodology that measures brand reach, sentiment of social media discussions and other factors.