PRSM Association sets record attendance at Mid-Year Conference
PRSM
The PRSM Mid-Year Conference concluded last week in Dallas, Texas with rave reviews. This two-day event brought together over 400 retailers and vendors from all over the U.S. and Canada. Held Oct. 14-15 at The Fairmont Hotel, the conference was an extremely positive event for PRSM members surpassing the previous retailer attendance record by 60 percent.More

Safeway's Tom Thumb stores changing strategy, adding Dallas-Fort Worth locations
The Dallas Morning News
Tom Thumb says it's getting into the everyday-low-prices business and is stepping up local growth, with new stores planned in Rockwall, Frisco and Flower Mound and more in the works. The supermarket chain, owned by Safeway Inc., says it's cutting prices on thousands of items beginning today to become a "more affordable and convenient one-stop-shopping experience." More

PRSM releases Best Practices White Paper on lighting retrofits
PRSM
The Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association released the white paper, Lighting Retrofits at the PRSM Mid-Year Conference, Oct. 15, in Dallas, Texas. The White Papers are a key component of PRSM's Best Practices Program as they answer a current need of the PRSM Association's membership to acquire and share information about the industry's best business practices being utilized by retailers and vendors concerning retail facilities maintenance and management.More

Michaels Opens First Store in Manhattan, Tests Urban Setting
Bloomberg
Michaels Stores Inc., the largest arts-and-crafts retailer in North America, opened its first Manhattan location as it tests an expansion into big cities. The store at 97th Street and Columbus Avenue in New York is the closely held chain's "first urban footprint," Chief Executive Officer John Menzer said. "This will be a learning lab for us. We'll try different things in Manhattan and use what we learn at the next couple of urban stores we open up."More

J.C. Penney recognized for sustainability efforts
Fibre2fashion
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. has been named to the 2009 Dow Jones Sustainability Index of the leading companies in North America for corporate sustainability and has also ranked No. 44 in Newsweek magazine’s inaugural Green Rankings, which selected the 500 "Greenest Big Companies in America."  Myron E. Ullman III, chairman and chief executive officer  said in part: "Operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner benefits our business, our customers and our communities, and it's integral to achieving our goal to become America's preferred place to shop."More

Chipotle adding on-site solar to 75 restaurants
Environmental Leader
Burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill plans to install solar panels atop 75 restaurants over the next year. In total, the panels should produce about 500 kilowatt hours of electricity, which Chipotle says will make it the largest direct producer of solar in the restaurant industry.More

With cash, credit short, retailers bring back in-store financing plans
Chicago Tribune
Nostalgic shoppers are more likely to find something in stores this holiday season that hasn't been widely available for a long time -- layaway programs. Driven by the credit crunch and sagging economy, Toys R Us has joined a growing list of retailers reviving the once-popular payment plan in an effort to boost sales.More

3M earnings beats estimates, raises forecast
Reuters
Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co. reported stronger-than-expected earnings and raised its full-year forecast, encouraged by strong demand for consumer electronics and for its respiratory masks, which were snapped up by people afraid of the swine flu virus. The company, which makes products ranging from Scotch tape to optical films for liquid crystal display televisions, reported third-quarter net income of $957 million, or $1.35 a share, down from $991 million, or $1.41 a share last year. More

NRF: Shoppers plan to cut holiday spending 3.2 percent
Bloomberg
U.S. consumers plan to spend 3.2 percent less this holiday season as they shop for deals at discounters and buy fewer gifts for non-family members, according to a survey. Shoppers plan to spend an average $682.74, compared with $705.01 last year, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington-based trade group. Last year’s decline was 7.6 percent, compared with the 9 percent increase shoppers had projected going into that shopping season.More

Online spending growth hits record low
Retail Week
Online spending growth hit a record low in September as e-tailers were hit by heavy discounting on the high street and postal strikes.More

Supervalu to double number of discount stores
The Wall Street Journal
Betting that consumer thriftiness won't be going away anytime soon, Supervalu Inc. Chief Executive Craig Herkert unveiled plans to double the size of the underperforming grocer's discount chain Save-A-Lot to about 2,400 stores over five years. "This is not an abandonment of traditional grocery; this is an acceleration of Save-A-Lot," Mr. Herkert, a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive hired in May, told analysts during Supervalu's fiscal second-quarter earnings call. Supervalu's main business will remain its chain of traditional supermarkets, including Albertson's, Jewel-Osco and Farm Fresh.More

Interactive digital displays finding a home in retail
STORES
The next generation of electronic billboards — interactive displays fueled by customer movements — could enable chains to promote new category destinations in-store, deliver information that educates shoppers, and ultimately drive sales.More