Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS Health plans to close 22 underperforming drugstores during the first quarter of 2020. The pharmacy chain is shifting its model to provide more healthcare services. In its third quarter results of 2019, the Rhode Island-based drugstore giant reported a 36.5% increase in revenue from $47.3 billion in 2018 to $64.8 this year. During 2018, CVS closed 46 underperforming stores and acquired health insurance and Medicare company Aetna for approximately $70 billion. The integrated companies moved forward with major asset redevelopments, including a “hub-and-spoke” model wherein smaller …
retailers
Atlanta — Psycho Bunny, the men’s contemporary and golf clothing brand, has opened its second stateside retail location at Lenox Square in Atlanta. The brand’s successful pop-up-to-permanent retail strategy was applied to the Atlanta market with the opening of an interactive pop-up in October, followed by a permanent space that opened on November 6, 2019. The 12×20 pop-up and 1,500-square-foot permanent store were designed and developed in partnership with international architecture and design firm, Adelifca. Launched in fall 2019, the pop-up showcases the brand’s fall collection, in a unique mobile …
FRCH NELSON Teams Up with American Girl to Design In-Store Experiences for the Holidays
by Katie Lee
Cincinnati — American Girl unveiled two new in-store experiences this month in its New York City flagship store on Rockefeller Plaza. Award-winning retail design firm FRCH NELSON partnered with the brand to envision both experiences that will be open throughout the holiday season. Girls can now experience a day in the life of one of American Girl’s most popular dolls, Julie. The pop-up called “Julie’s Groovy World” immerses guests in her 1970s world. The in-store activation encourages interactive play between girl and doll and brings Julie’s message of girl empowerment …
Hartford, Conn.— Express Kitchens is in expansion mode, opening more locations and tweaking the store lineup to include retail showroom in and around Boston. By the end of 2019, Express Kitchens will open three new retail stores followed by five new showrooms in the year 2020. In addition, the company has taken a big step toward fulfilling its environmental stewardship commitment by implementing renewable energy practices to its business operations. The successful installation and functioning of solar panels to its Hartford, Conn., offices is an initiative that reflects company’s holistic …
Plano, Texas — JCPenney recently unveiled its brand-new store, a completely reimagined format just outside of Dallas in Hurst, Texas, that represents the company’s strategy to put the customer at the center of its business. As a brand-defining store, it is experiential at its core, and a direct result of what today’s shoppers want from a retailer. The store is built around data and insights learned from more than a year of extensive customer research. “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do,” says JCPenney’s chief executive officer, …
New York City — Authentic Brands Group (ABG), a global brand owner, marketing and entertainment company, has emerged as the successful bidder to purchase the intellectual property of Barneys New York (Barneys). Through this acquisition, which closed on November 1, ABG will enhance its luxury footprint and further establish its position as a leader in contemporary fashion. “We are thrilled that our offer for Barneys has been accepted,” says Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and CEO of Authentic Brands Group. “Barneys is one of the most recognizable and iconic names in …
Brooklyn, N.Y. — The first Wegmans Food Market in New York City opened on October 27, 2019 in Brooklyn. The beloved suburban grocer, which has almost a cult-like following, debuted to a long line of fans waiting in the rain for the grand opening. The 74,000-square-foot store is located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Named “America’s Favorite Supermarket” in a 2018 Market Force study of more than 12,800 shoppers nationwide, Wegmans is a 103-year-old family company widely recognized for its fresh, high-quality ingredients, restaurant foods, consistent low prices and incredible …
Glen Allen, Va. — Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. will close all stores of its retail subsidiary, The Kitchen Collection, by the end of the year. Kitchen Collection employs approximately 800 people at 160 stores across 37 states. The company previously closed about 35 underperforming stores in an effort to maintain long term profitability, but higher operating losses in the first half of 2019 have prompted Hamilton Beach Brands to shutter the chain entirely. “Despite our best efforts to return Kitchen Collection to profitability through footprint consolidation, further deterioration in …
Mt. Angel, Ore. — Wilco, a farmer-owned cooperative, plans to open a new store in Petaluma, Calif., in May 2020. This opening will mark the retailer’s entrance into California and will expand the specialty retailer’s footprint to 22 locations on the West Coast. Committed to nurturing the passions of rural living families, the brand will occupy the former Orchard Supply Hardware space. Similar to that long-time Petaluma retailer, Wilco carries a wide range of hardware supplies alongside land, lawn, garden, livestock and pet-related products and services. The retailer plans to employ …
Cincinnati — LSI Industries Inc., a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of outdoor and indoor lighting and graphics for commercial, industrial and multi-site retail applications, has been selected to produce and implement the interior graphics and signage program at a HEB Grocery Company (H-E-B) Houston location. H-E-B operates 400 stores in Texas and Mexico and has annual sales of $26 billion. The recent grand opening of this H-E-B location is the first in a rollout of “new urban” store designs that H-E-B is initiating. LSI Industries produced all of the store’s interior …