Retail Stores

The Shop.org Annual Summit is consistently one of my favorite conferences of the year. Held in late summer, the event provides me with a burst of inspiration that I tap into throughout the rest of the year. This year's conference, held in Boston from Sept. 12 - 14, was no exception. Here are two insights I learned there that I'd like to share with you:

In an effort to help its retail partners create an ideal shopping experience on behalf of Philip Stein, the brand is halting all online watch sales on its website. “A positive retail experience is a vital part of the Philip Stein mission to make their customers their number one priority”, says Will Stein, president of Philip Stein watches. “The best way to do that is by providing the service and attention that only a retail environment can provide.”

T-Mobile announced the rollout of a new global design for nearly 400 new and remodeled stores across the country. In an ongoing commitment to provide the ultimate customer experience, T-Mobile adopted the new design format from its parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, which has received positive customer feedback for this new design in retail stores across Europe.

Ghouls and goblins galore, Halloween celebrations will be BOOming this year as more people than ever are expected to partake in traditional festivities. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2011 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted by BIGresearch, seven in 10 Americans (68.6 percent) plan to celebrate Halloween.

More than 85 percent of retailers surveyed at the annual Shop.org Retail Summit in Boston by CashStar were concerned about the lack of personalization of gift cards. Additionally, the survey found that almost half of all retailers surveyed planned to offer e-gifting this holiday season and 44 percent were looking at location-based deals as a key element of their mobile marketing strategy.

Kohl's is celebrating the grand opening of 30 new stores, bringing approximately 4,000 new jobs across 20 states. “We are pleased to be in a position to create thousands of jobs, as Kohl’s continues to focus on growing market share in a challenging economy,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Toys"R"Us unveiled a brand redesign for Imaginarium that will be translated throughout all its offerings, marking continued investment in the company's portfolio of exclusive brands. The new logo gives a fresh look to the specialty learning brand and encourages consumers to "Just Imagine," while the introduction of 50 new products promote childhood development by stimulating visual, auditory and manual senses.

Fashionistas who are following the latest runway collections being shown this month have the opportunity, beginning this season, to buy some of those looks, from designers like Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs and Derek Lam, right from magazine websites. 

At shopping malls and big-box stores, it seems Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. Retailers claim they're simply responding to consumer demand. "Forty percent of our consumers that we surveyed have told us that they're shopping for the Christmas holidays already," said Mike Gatti of the National Retail Federation. But retailers have other motivations, too. Concerns are growing that the global economy could be headed into another recession, and retailers did not exactly have a scintillating holiday season last year.

People are changing their shopping behavior and will spend less overall this holiday season, according to a new survey from SteelHouse. More than four out of five (82 percent) survey respondents said their shopping behavior will change this holiday season.