Toys R Us plans 600 holiday-season pop-up shops

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September 9, 2010 News for the retail industry     Industry Watch    Talbots passes up deep discounting to boost bottom line Talbots' financial results show the women's apparel sector is starting to recover from the downturn. The chain moved back into profitability in the most recent quarter, and attributed a drop in sales to tighter controls over pricing. The company declined to follow the deep-discounting trend, holding the line on prices as it sought higher profit margins. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (9/8) Toys R Us plans 600 holiday-season pop-up shops Toys R Us will take advantage of an excess of retail space at U.S. malls to temporarily double its store count during the upcoming holiday season. The chain plans to open 600 pop-up shops, building on a smaller experiment launched last year. The toy retailer saw sales rise last holiday season after it opened 90 temporary mall-based locations. The 4,000-square-foot pop-up shops will feature popular toys, but not larger items such as bicycles, the company said. The Wall Street Journal (9/9) Sources: 7-Eleven tops Couche-Tard's bid for Casey's 7-Eleven has offered a higher bid than Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard to acquire Casey's General Stores, sources said. 7-Eleven's offer values its smaller rival at roughly $2 billion. Couche-Tard scrutinized the decision by Casey's to enter into negotiations with 7-Eleven. The Wall Street Journal (9/9) Other News Burberry aims to transform into agile global retailer The Wall Street Journal (9/9) Big Y to buy 7 Connecticut A&P stores Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press (9/8) Social, SEO and the Open Graph: What To Do Now Do you know how Social and Search intersect today? Facebook's search engine is making headlines, but what are the implications for your business? Find out how your business can apply the new tools that bridge social and search to drive increased traffic. Download the free Whitepaper Now   Retail Trends    Consumers are willing to pay more when they can interact with products Consumers place a higher value on products they can see and touch than they do on pictures or descriptions of the items, findings that have implications for online and brick-and-mortar merchants, according to researchers at Caltech. Studies found that subjects bid an average of 50% more when items ranging from foods to paperback books were put in front of them. Science Blog (9/8)   Japan's luxury consumers find ways around higher price tags Consumers in Japan are as in love with luxury products as they've ever been, but they're increasingly eschewing the traditional higher price tags by heading online to find designer deals at lower U.S. prices. In addition, the trend is fueling a boom for U.S.-style outlet malls. The Wall Street Journal/Japan Real Time blog (9/8) ClearanceJobs recently published the 2010 Cleared Jobs Compensation Report. This year's report covers total compensation including salary, overtime, danger pay and bonuses, and is the most comprehensive survey of the defense industry. Make sure your security-cleared salary wages are in line with what cleared candidates are making these days. Get your free copy.   Retail Technology    Google unveils service to help customers see what's in stock Google is offering a new service that will allow customers to see whether businesses have the product they're looking for in stock. Google Local Shopping won't accept every retailer, though, Lisa Barone cautions, and business owners must make sure their online product listing feed is accurate and complete. Small Business Trends (9/7) How are your competitors using cross-channel to get ahead—and how can you achieve more? Multichannel retailing is now the norm, but cross-channel strategies vary widely—and so do the results! Boost yours by leveraging the insights in Martec's original research on Multichannel Retailing 2010: Facts, Issues, and Opportunities for Growth. Download your copy now!   Main Street    Tips for using location-based services to boost your business Location services such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places are hot, but business owners need to find a way to turn the hype into profit. John Jantsch recommends offering virtual rewards programs, distributing coupons and creating a game using Web applications such as "SCVNGR." Duct Tape Marketing (9/7) Mobile technology can provide a platform for interactive real time workforce management. Equipped with mobile devices, managers and employees can communicate seamlessly to exchange information, staff shifts and ultimately improve the customer shopping experience. Download this complimentary article to get insight on the impact of mobile technology on workforce management.   Featured Content    The Opportunity Of Risk Richard Branson Cyber Crime: You're the Mark Tom Harnish How and Why Facebook Users Interact with Brands Adam Ostrow 6 Tips to Firewall Your Attention and Boost Productivity Glen Stansberry How Any Business Can Generate Recurring Revenues Michael Periu   NRF News  Retailers, participate in NRF's most important benchmarking research Survey collection for Retail Horizons, NRF's most illustrious industry benchmarking report, is officially under way. The study, which collects data on retailers' intentions in nine areas of operations including customer insight, e-commerce, supply chain and marketing, will be released at NRF's BIG Show in January. Retailers, complete the benchmarking survey and receive a free copy of the 2009-2010 report (up to a $695 value). Learn more. NRF SmartStat: Sept. 9, 2010 Nearly two-thirds of shoppers' favorite 50 online retailers for 2010 have no physical presence. Source: STORES survey conducted by BIGresearch   adidas exec examines using process documentation to align business and IT Peter Burrows, CIO emeritus of adidas Group, will discuss the importance of developing a business process model as the first step to providing maximum IT support at the upcoming Association for Retail Technology Standards Users' Meeting, Sept. 12 to 14 in Orlando. The meeting offers a comprehensive three-day educational program on the benefits and "how-to" of ARTS standards. Learn more. Learn more about NRF -> Join NRF  |  Govt Relations  |  NRF Events  |  STORES  |  NRF Foundation   Chain Restaurant News  Restaurant chains help drive food-truck trend A growing number of restaurant chains are launching their own fleets to compete with popular independent food trucks throughout the U.S. Sizzler USA has plans to launch its first truck in Southern California, Subway expects to debut a mobile sandwich eatery in Arizona and Fatburger franchisees are awaiting delivery of seven trucks to serve a variety of markets. Industry experts say the fast-growing food-truck trend offers an opportunity to reach customers in under-served areas and markets that won't support sit-down stores. Los Angeles Times (9/9) New Red Lobster campaign to take focus off food Red Lobster commercials are preparing a shift away from the tight food shots that have been their hallmark to campaigns that are more focused on guests enjoying their meals. The shift comes as the Darden-owned chain prepares to switch its advertising work to Grey New York early next year. Red Lobster has been in reinvention mode, remodeling stores and revamping its menus to win more sophisticated diners. Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) (9/7) Church's Chicken aims higher in quickservice consumer rankings The private equity firm that bought Church's Chicken was dismayed to find that consumers ranked the company's restaurants at the bottom of a list of popular quickservice chains. Since then, CEO Mel Deane has led a turnaround effort that has improved service and store conditions enough to move Church's eateries into the "above average" category. The strategy included raising manager pay, expanding R&D efforts and creating an online consumer panel to seek feedback. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (free registration) (9/8)   Career Track  Director of Merchandising Total Wine & More Potomac, MD Store Team Leader - Tucson Target Corporation Tucson, AZ Buyer - Childrens The TJX Companies, Inc. Los Angeles, CA Buyer - Big and Tall The TJX Companies, Inc. Framingham, MA Buyer The TJX Companies Framingham, MA Online Buyer - Home Electronics Sears Hoffman Estates, IL Analyst Oakley, Inc Foothill Ranch, CA Human Resources Director, Merchant Development Wal-Mart Bentonville, AR Director of Strategic Pricing Guitar Center Westlake Village, CA CRM Credit Card Marketing Analyst HSN St. Petersburg, FL Buyer Headquarters Marine Corps, Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) Quantico, VA Assistant Buyer Headquarters Marine Corps/Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) Quantico, VA SVP of Merchandising Neiman Marcus Dallas, TX Director, Public Affairs PetSmart Phoenix, AZ e-Commerce Retail Manager AutoZone, Inc. Memphis, TN Manager of Children's (Kids) Product Development TJX Companies Boston, MA SR. Pet Product Development Design Specialist TJX Companies Boston, MA Principal Business Consultant Oracle Corporation Atlanta, GA VP of Business Systems & Process Implementation / Administration Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh, PA Graphic Designer - Apparel Tween Brands New Albany, OH Business Systems Analyst Nike Portland, OR Senior Project Manager Nike Portland, OR   SmartQuote  A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues." --Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president   This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers.data@blogger.com   Subscriber Tools       Update account information | Change e-mail address | Unsubscribe | Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy   Advertise Senior Account Director:  Susan Kim (202) 407-7877 Download Media Kit Job Board: Lee Vanderwerff (202) 737-5500 ext. 248       Recent NRF SmartBrief Issues: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 Tuesday, September 07, 2010 Friday, September 03, 2010 Thursday, September 02, 2010 Wednesday, September 01, 2010     Lead Editor:  Megan Conniff Contributing Editor:  Faye Rapoport     Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005     © 1999-2010 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information