CSA September/October 2025

September/October 2025

Update on Agentic AI Real Estate’s Space Makers Innovations in Store Operations

6

30

from the editor’s desk

tech viewpoint: a retail tech column

Contents VOL. 100 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER NO. 5

STORE SPACES

17

COVER STORY

8

Preview of Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS conference, which is focused on store design, construction and facilities management

18

Trending Stores: Eyewear brand Oakley’s new “bunker style” flagship includes customization zone where customers can personalize their shades.

20

Vendor Q&A: Excel Dryer’s Debbie Frangie discusses the benefits of hand dryers versus paper towels.

21

Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard is accelerating expansion with flexible formats and adaptive reuse.

REAL ESTATE

22 TOP 100 U.S. RETAILERS

Walmart and Amazon once again take the top spots in Chain Store Age’s annual ranking of the nation’s 100 largest retailers

The SPACEMAKERS: Retail space is being leased faster than it has in 20 years. Learn how developers are creating and carving out much-needed space for expanding brands.

26

‘The New Anchors’: How food-and-beverage chains are fueling retail center visits

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

3

Contents VOL. 100 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER NO. 5

31

TECHNOLOGY

29

Agentic AI can help retailers enhance the holiday shopping experience — in both the front and back ends.

OPERATIONS

31

Top 20: A look at the innovations that have transformed 20 areas of store operations.

26 4

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Counting Down The “Hot” Retailers Who’s hot in retail and who’s not? It’s a loaded question — one that seems increasingly defined by social media buzz and influencer partnerships.

That’s short-sighted thinking to me.

While brands can go viral at lightning speed these days, they can become yesterday’s news just as fast.

I’d rather define “hot” retailers by their year-over-year performance. In that, I’m in agreement with the National Retail Federation, whose “Hot 25 Retailers List,” compiled by Kantar, ranks the nation’s fastest-growing retailers based on increases in domestic sales year over year, or between 2023 and 2024. All retail companies with global sales in excess of $2 billion, and key format leaders, are eligible.

This year’s list features a diverse lineup of players, including a growing number of foreign-based companies, with either already well-established or fast-growing U.S. footprints.

Some of the retailers made the list through acquisitions, including U.K.-based athletic-inspired fashion retailer JD Sports, which took the No. 1 spot. The brand’s U.S. sales rose 41.5% year over year in 2024 after adding nearly 1,200 Hibbett, City Gear and Sports Addition stores across 36 states to its global portfolio.

Dublin-based Primark took the No. 2 spot with 30% year-over-year sales growth, followed by another import, Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing, whose sales rose 27.7%.

Other Japanese retailers on the list are Daiso Sangyo (No. 13) and Muji (No. 14).

Rounding out the top five are Shell (sales up 26.8% following its purchase of Timewise stores from Landmark and Brewer from Brewer Oil, and Abercrombie & Fitch (up 15.2%).

6

Grocers and c-stores made a particularly strong standing this year. Superior Grocers, one of the largest independently owned chains of grocery stores in Southern California, took the sixth spot, with sales increasing 14.10%. it was followed by Aldi (sales up 13.50%), Sprouts (up 12.90%), QuikTrip (up 10.90%) and Grocery Outlet (up 10.90%, reflecting its acquisition of 40 United Grocery Outlet stores).

Acquisitions are not the only route to the Hot 25. Some retailers made the list through fairly rapid expansion. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, No. 21 with an 8% sales increase, added a net of 47 stores in 2024.

One of the biggest surprises on the list, according to the NRF, is that Amazon, the country’s second largest retailer based on annual revenue, is still growing at a pace strong enough to merit a return to the Hot 25. Amazon landed at No. 11, with 9.4% sales growth, returning to the list for the first time since 2021.

Below is the complete 2025 Hot Retailers List.

1. JD Sports 2. Primark 3. Fast Retailing 4. Shell 5. Abercrombie & Fitch 6. Superior Grocers 7. Aldi 8. Sprouts 9. QuikTrip 10. Grocery Outlet 11. Amazon 12. Burlington 13. Daiso Sangyo 14. Muji 15. Five Below 16. Hmart 17. ampm 18. Total Wine and More 19. Harbor Freight Tools 20. 99 Ranch Market 21. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 22. Sephora (LVMH) 23. Wawa 24. Festival Foods 25. CVS

Marianne Wilson mwilson@chainstoreage.com

8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 225, Chicago, IL 60631 (773) 992-4450 Fax (773) 992-4455 www.chainstoreage.com

BRAND MANAGEMENT Vice President & Group Publisher, SPECS Chairman Gary Esposito gesposito@ensembleiq.com

EDITORIAL Editor Marianne Wilson mwilson@ensembleiq.com Technology Editor Dan Berthiaume dberthiaume@ensembleiq.com Real Estate Editor Al Urbanski aurbanski@ensembleiq.com Online Editor Zachary Russell zrussell@ensembleiq.com

ADVERTISING SALES & BUSINESS Midwest & South Sales Manager Michael Morrissey mmorrissey@ensembleiq.com East & West Sales Manager Lise Slaviero Groh lgroh@ensembleiq.com Real Estate Sales Manager Al Urbanski aurbanski@ensembleiq.com Senior Account Executive Nick Lipere NLipere@chainstoreage.com

EVENTS/MARKETING Program Director Deena AmatoMcCoy damccoy@ensembleiq.com Event Director Melissa Murphy mmurphy@ensembleiq.com Event Coordinator Rita Ruzalski rruzalski@ensembleiq.com Marketing & Event Administration Coordinator Farida Batuta fbatuta@ensembleiq.com

ART/PRODUCTION Print Designer Catalina Gutierrez cgutierrez@ensembleiq.com Production Manager Patricia Wisser pwisser@ensembleiq.com

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES List Rental mbriganti@anteriad.com Subscription Questions contact@chainstoreage.com

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D

Walmart remains on top in annual ranking of the nation’s largest retailers based on total revenue

By Marianne Wilson

espite economic uncertainty, sticky inflation and cautious consumers, the retail landscape — as reflected in Chain’s Store Age’s annual ranking of the largest U.S. retailers — continues to hold steady, with few changes or big surprises.

Staying power best sums up the CSA Top 100, which ranks the largest retailers based on total revenue (as opposed to only sales) for their most recently completed fiscal year, which for the majority of the companies is 2024.

Similar to the rankings in recent years, and apart from a few changes, there is very little year-over-year movement in the list — particularly in the upper tier.

The current Top 100 features the same retailers in the leading five spots as the 2024 ranking. Throughout the years, most of the major shifts in the Top 100 have been the result of mergers/acquisitions or liquidations.

Top Spots: As it has for the past 20-plus years, Walmart Inc. took the No. 1 spot in the CSA ranking.

The retail behemoth, which also ranks as the largest private employer in the U.S., had another strong year, with revenue of $681.0 billion. Its U.S sales rose 5.1% to $441.8 billion.

Walmart’s momentum is being driven by low prices, a growing assortment and an e-commerce business driven by increasingly faster delivery times. An ongoing influx of higher- income shoppers continues to help it gain market share.

8

The chain’s market leading position is also being driven by significant investments in artificial intelligence, with innovations that have allowed it to optimize its operations and customer experience, and enhance worker productivity.

Amazon ranked No. 2 on the list for the ninth consecutive year as it continues to inch closer to the top spot.

The company, which reported $638 billion in revenue for the year, had growth across all its major segments.

Similar to recent past years, Amazon’s non-retail businesses continue to generate impressive numbers. Revenue credited to the company’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services, rose 19% year over year to $107.6 billion.

Meanwhile, ad revenue rose 18% to $56.2 billion, making Amazon the third largest digital advertising company in the world, behind Alphabet (Google) and Meta.

The company has emerged as one of the biggest players in the generative AI space and has ramped up investments in the technology as it invests billions to expand data centers that support AI and cloud computing.

A report from Forrester brings home the dominant roles that Walmart and Amazon play in today’s retail landscape. According to the firm’s “US Online Retail Forecast, 2024 to 2029,” the combined U.S. retail sales of Walmart and Amazon will reach $1.5 trillion by 2029, capturing one-fourth of the total U.S. retail market.

By 2029, the combined U.S. e-commerce sales of the two retail titans will reach $1.1 trillion — accounting for two-thirds of total U.S. online retail sales.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

Company

Fiscal Yearend

2024 Revenue (000)

2023 Revenue (000)

2024 Store Count

2023 Store Count

1

Walmart Inc. Bentonville, Ark

1/31/2025

680,985,000

648,125,000

10,771

10,616

2

Amazon Seattle

12/31/2024

637,959,000

574,785,000

587(E)

568(E)

3

CVS Health Corp.

Woonsocket, R.I.

12/31/2024

372,809,000

357,766,000

4

Costco Wholesale Corp.

Issaquah, Wash.

9/1/2024

249,625,000

237,710,000

890

861

5

The Home Depot Inc. Atlanta

2/2/2025

159,514,000

152,669,000

2,347

2,335

6

Walgreens Boot Alliance Deefield, Ill.

8/31/2024

147,658,000

139,081,000

12,500

8,720

7

The Kroger Co. Cincinnati

2/1/2025

147,123,000

150,039,000

2,731

2,722

8

Target Corp.

Minneapolis

2/1/2025

106,566,000

107,412

1,978

1,956

9

Lowe’s Cos. Mooresville, N.C.

1/31/2025

83,674,000

86,377,000

1,748

1,746

10

Apple Inc. Cupertino, Calif.

(Stores and iTunes only)

9/30/2024

82,030,000

79,560,000

520

520

11

Albertsons Companies Boise, Idaho

2/22/2025

80,390,900

79,237,700

2,270

2,269

12

Alimentation Couche-Tard Laval, Quebec

4/28/2025

72,856,800

69,263,500

14,477

14,545

13

Publix Super Markets Lakeland, Fla.

12/28/2024

60,177,000

57,534,000

1,390

1,360

14

The TJX Cos. Framingham, Mass.

2/1/2025

56,360,000

54,217,000

5,085

4,954

15

Ahold Delhaize Chantilly, Va. (US only)

12/31/2024

54,198,000

54,610,000

2,017

2,048

16

H-E-B (E) San Antonio, Texas

10/31/2024

46,500,000

43,000,000

440-plus

430 (E)

17

Shell Oil Company (E) Houston, Texas

12/31/24

43,400,000

40,900,00

10,019

13,000

Source: Company reports unless other noted E: Estimate, R: Retail operations only, NA: Not applicable CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

9,373

Methodology: Behind the numbers Chain Store Age’s Top 100 ranks North American-based retail companies according to total net revenue — except if otherwise noted — for the firm’s most recently completed fiscal year as of press time.

The list also includes foreign-based companies, such as Sephora, that have a significant U.S. footprint. In these instances, only the revenue related to the company’s North American division is provided (except where otherwise noted.)

Store counts for retailers based in North America reflect the company’s total global store count (except where otherwise noted).

For foreign-based companies, the store counts reflect the company’s North American division.

The Top 100 ranking contains a number of privately owned companies that do not release annual reports, financial statements or basic details related to their operations.

The metrics for these companies, which are highlighted in the listing with an E, are estimated based on public and private reports and independent research.

(Research compiled by contributing editor Debra Hazel.)

9

Company

Fiscal Yearend

2024 Revenue (000)

2023 Revenue (000)

2024 Store Count

2023 Store Count

2/1/2025

41,528,000

43,452,000

1,117

1,125

18

Best Buy Co. Richfield, Minn.

19

Dollar General Corp.

Goodlettsville, Tenn.

2/1/2025

40,612,300

38,691,600

20,594

19,986

will grow between

20

Starbucks Corp.

Seattle

9/29/2024

36,176,200

35,975,600

38,571

38,038

in 2025 year over year, to between

21

C&S Wholesale Grocers (E) Keene, N.H.

12/31/24

34,000,000

32,000,000

180

170

$5.42 - $5.48

22

Dollar Tree, Inc. Chesapeake, Va.

2/1/2025

30,878,500

30,581,600

16,503

16,774

Online and non-store sales are

23

7-Eleven (E) Dallas (U.S. only)

2/28/2025

29,390,000

27,880,000

13,102

13,267

$1.57 to $1.6

24

Ace Hardware (E) Oak Brook, IL

12/31/2024

27,250,000

26,290,000

5,966

4,994

25

Aldi Batavia, Ill.

12/31/2024

24,000,000

22,125,000

2,400-plus

2,280

26

The Sherwin-Williams Co. Cleveland

12/31/2024

23,098,500

23,051,900

4,773

4,694

(97%) consumers

27

Foot Locker Inc. New York City

2/1/2025

22,450,000

21,950,000

273

267

free shipping affects their online ordering

28

Macy’s Inc. New York, NY

2/1/2025

22,293,000

23,092,000

680

718

decisions to some degree, with

29

Ross Stores, Inc. Dublin, Calif.

2/1/2025

21,129,219

20,376,941

2,186

2,109

77% saying it

30

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. Marlborough, Mass.

2/1/2025

20,045,329

19,548,011

250

243

31

Racetrac Petroleum (E) Atlanta

12/31/2024

20,000,000

19,700,000

800

800

32

AT&T Inc. (ER) Dallas

12/31/2024

19,880,000

20,810,000

5,340

5,340

33

Trader Joe’s (E) Monrovia, Calif.

12/31/24

19,843,000

18,428,000

544

544

34

Verizon Communications Inc. (ER) Basking Ridge, N.J.

12/31/2024

19,600,000

20,650,000

8,000

6,227

35

Quik Trip (E) Tulsa, Okla.

4/30/2025

19,600,000

20,300,000

1,100

1,080

36

Wakefern Food Corp.

Keasbey, N.J.

10/1/2024

19,170,000

18,870,000

362

368

Retail sales

trillion.

expected to account for trillion of the overall total.

Source: National Retail Federation

Nearly all

surveyed

say the availability of

“greatly” impacts their decision.

Source: AlixPartners’ “Home Delivery Survey”

The average

cost of a data breach for U.S. companies jumped

9%

to an all-time high of

$10.22 million

in 2025

Source: IBM’s “Cost of a Data Breach Report”

Source: Company reports unless other noted E: Estimate, R: Retail operations only, NA: Not applicable 10

2.7% - 3.7%

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Company

Fiscal Yearend

2024 Revenue (000)

2023 Revenue (000)

2024 Store Count

2023 Store Count

37

Wawa (E) Wawa, Pa.

12/31/2024

18,800,000

15,800,000

950

950

38

Autozone inc.

Memphis, Tenn.

8/31/2024

18,490,000

17,457,209

7,353

7,140

39

O’Reilly Automotive Springfiled, Mo.

12/31/2024

16,708,479

15,812,250

6,378

6,157

The U.S. secondhand apparel market grew

40

Casey’s General Stores Ankeny, Iowa

4/30/2025

15,940,899

14,862,913

2,904

2.658

outpacing the broader

41

Kohl’s Corp.

Menomonee Falls, Wis.

2/1/2025

15,385,000

16,586,000

1,175

1,174

42

Gap Inc. San Francisco

2/1/2025

15,086,000

14,889,000

3,569

3,560

43

Tractor Supply Co. Brentwood, Tenn.

12/28/2024

14,883,231

14,555,741

2,502

2,414

44

Nordstrom Inc. Seattle

2/1/2025

14,557,000

14,219,000

386

369

45

Sheetz (E) Altoona, Pa.

9/30/2024

14,000,000

14,000,000

777

680

46

Hy-Vee (E) West Des Moines, Iowa

9/30/2024

13,900,000

13,500,000

285

285

47

Pilot Co. (E) Knoxville, Tenn.

12/31/2024

13,745,000

16,560,000

754

750

48

Dick’s Sporting Goods Coraopolis, Pa.

2/1/2025

13,442,849

12,984,399

856

855

49

Menards (E) Eau Claire, Wis.

12/31/2024

13,160,000

13,080,000

341

337

50

Etsy New York City

12/31/2024

12,586,952

13,161,196

NA

NA

51

Wegmans Rochester, N.Y.

12/31/24

12,500,000

12,170,000

111

110

52

Rite Aid Corp.

Harrisburg, Pa.

3/4/2025

12,190,000

17,410,000

1,250

1,741

53

Health Mart Systems (E) McKesson, Texas

3/31/25

12,120,000

11,900,000

4,400

4,700

54

Wayfair Inc. Boston

12/31/2024

11,851,000

12,003,000

10

5

55

Ulta Beauty Bolingbrook, Ill.

2/1/2025

11,295,654

11,207,303

1,445

1,385

56

Winco Foods (E) Boise, Idaho

3/31/2025

10,890,000

10,390,000

137

137

57

Giant Eagle Inc. (E) Pittsburgh

6/30/2025

10,880,000

10,810,000

200

487

58

Burlington Stores Burlington, N.J.

2/1/2025

10,634,823

9,727,467

1,108

1,007

59

Lululemon Athletica Vancouver, B.C.

2/2/25

10,588,126

9,619,278

767

711

14% in 2024,

retail clothing market by five times.

Nearly all

(94%) surveyed

retail executives say their

customers are already participating in resale, up four percentage points from 2023.

Source: ThredUp’s 2025 “Retail Resale Report”

First-party fraud has increased to become the leading type globally, representing

36% of all reported

fraud in 2024, up from

15% in 2023.

Source: LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ Cybercrime report

85% of surveyed

global retail executives

have already

developed AI capabilities and solutions. Over half

(53%) plan to invest in AI capabilities

during the next several years

Source: Honeywell Source: Company reports unless other noted E: Estimate, R: Retail operations only, NA: Not applicable 12

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Company

Fiscal Yearend

2024 Revenue (000)

2023 Revenue (000)

2024 Store Count

2023 Store Count

60

T-Mobile US Inc. Bellevue, Wash.

12/31/2024

10,399,000

9,767,000

6,223

6,272

61

QVC Group (Formerly Qurate Retail) West Chester, Pa.

12/31/2024

10,337,000

10,915,000

35

36

62

eBay Inc. San Jose, Calif.

12/31/2024

10,283,000

10,112,000

NA

NA

63

Advance Auto Parts Roanoke, Va.

12/28/2024

9,904,327

9,209,075

4,788

4,786

64

SpartanNash Company Grand Rapids, Mich.

12/28/2024

9,549,324

9,729,219

156

156

65

Good Neighbor Pharmacy (E) Chesterbrook, PA

9/30/2024

9,280,000

9,050,000

2,352

2,448

66

Sephora Americas (E) San Francisco

12/31/2024

8,630,000

7,990,000

1,776

1,636

67

AAFES Dallas

2/1/2025

8.500,000

8,500,000

4,376

4,330

68

PetSmart (E) Phoenix

1/31/2025

8,160,000

7,730,000

1,660

1,582

69

EG America Westborough, Mass.

12/31/2024

8,043,000

8,960,000

1,500

1,507

70

Foot Locker Inc. New York City

2/1/2025

7,988,000

8,168,000

2,634

2,725

71

Bass Pro Shops (E) Springfield, Mo.

12/31/2024

7,960,000

7,360,000

200

159

72

Sprouts Farmers Market Phoenix, Ariz.

12/29/2024

7,719,290

6,837,384

440

407

73

Williams-Sonoma San Francisco

2/2/2025

7,711,541

7,750,652

512

518

(99.9%)

74

Northeast Grocery (E) Schenectady, NY

12/31/2024

7,710,000

7,460,000

300

279

purchased a private label grocery item in the past

75

Grupo Chedraui Mexico City, Mexico (US Only)

12/29/2024

7,610,000

7,460,000

384

379

76

Harbor Freight Tools (E) Calabasas, CA

12/31/2024

7,600,000

7,000,000

1,600

1,410

77

Southeastern Grocers (E) Jacksonville, Fla.

12/31/2024

7,400,000

7,030,000

400

428

78

Bath & Body Works Columbus, Ohio

2/1/2025

7,307,000

7,429,000

1,895

1,850

capabilities and solutions, with

79

Staples (E) Framingham, Mass.

1/31/2024

7,080,000

6,330,000

945

983

60%

80

Tapestry New York City

6/28/2025

7,010,700

6,670,000

1,371

1,402

81

The ODP Corp. (Office Depot) Boca Raton, Fla.

12/28/2024

6,990,000

7,831,000

869

916

The total amount

of dollars lost to returns abuse and fraud in 2024 was

, $103 billion up from $101 billion in 2023.

Source: Appriss Retail’s “2024 Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry” (in collaboration with Deloitte)

Trader Joe’s and Patagonia came out on top in an annual brand reputation survey.

Source: Axios Harris Poll 100

Almost all

U.S. households

12 months, followed by health & beauty

(99.4%),

household products

(99.1%) and

home & garden

(98.4%).

actively expanding them.

Source: Numerator

Source: Company reports unless other noted E: Estimate, R: Retail operations only, NA: Not applicable 14

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

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Company

Fiscal Yearend

2024 Revenue (000)

2023 Revenue (000)

2024 Store Count

2023 Store Count

82

Hobby Lobby (E) Oklahoma City, Okla.

12/31/2024

6,940,000

7,110,000

1,057

1,059

83

AVB Brandsource (E) Nashville

12/31/2024

6,890,000

6,930,000

4,500

3,150

84

Discount Tire (E) Scottsdale, AZ

12/31/2024

6,790,000

6,390,000

1,200

1,150

85

Signet Jewelers Ltd. Hamilton, Bermuda

2/1/2025

6,703,800

7,171,100

2,808

2,698

86

J.C. Penney Co. (E) Plano, Texas

2/2/2025

6,420,000

7,020,000

650

657

87

Victoria’s Secret & Co. Reynoldsburg, Ohio

2/1/2025

6,230,000

6,182,000

882

907

88

Dillard’s Little Rock, Ark.

2/1/2025

6,219,000

6,752,100

272

273

89

Petco Health and Wellness Company San Diego

2/1/2025

6,116,462

6,255,284

1,398

1,423

90

Camping World Lincolnshire, IL

12/31/2024

6,099,974

6,226,547

206

202

91

Total Wine & More (E) Bethesda, Md.

12/31/2024

5,970,000

5,500,000

284

263

In 2024,

92

Academy Sports + Outdoors Katy, Texas

2/1/2025

5,933,400.00

6,159,291

298

282

estimated

93

The Raley’s Companies (E) West Sacramento, Calif.

12/31/2024

5,650,000

5,570,000

237

231

$45 billion to shoplifting;

94

Ingles Markets Black Mountain N.C.

9/28/2024

5,639,609

5,892,800

198

198

73% of those

95

Ikea North America Conshohocken, Pa.

12/31/2024

5,545,504

5,650,000

100

54

96

Demoulas Super Markets (Market Basket) (E) Tewksbury, Mass.

1/2/2025

5,410,000

5,240,000

95

92

97

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. Pittsburgh, Pa.

2/1/25

5,328,652

5,261,700

1,172

1,182

98

Under Armour Inc. Baltimore

3/31/2025

5,164,310

5,701,879

445

440

99

Michaels Stores (E) Irving, Texas

1/31/2025

5,160,000

5,790,000

1,300

1,172

100

Saks Global (formerly Hudson’s Bay) (E) New York City (US only)

2/2/2024

5,080,000

7,230,000

176

134

By 2029, Forrester

expects U.S. total retail sales to reach

$6.0 trillion and

U.S. online retail sales to reach

$1.8 trillion.

U.S. online penetration is

expected to grow to

29% by 2029.

Source: Forrester

U.S. retailers lost an

surveyed say that shoplifters are exhibiting more violence and aggression than they were a year ago.

Source: National Retail Federation

The average return

rate for online transactions is threetimes higher than the return rate for in-store purchases.

Source: Retail Systems Research

Source: Company reports unless other noted E: Estimate, R: Retail operations only, NA: Not applicable 16

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

STORE SPACES

SPECS 2026: The Countdown Is On! Annual event is dedicated to store construction, design and facilities management

By Deena Amato-McCoy

SPECS Appoints Executive Advisory Board

T

he hallmarks of Chain Store Age’s SPECS event include educational sessions and workshops, which cover a wide range of topics. The SPECS Advisory Board plays a pivotal role in planning this critical aspect of the program, functioning as a think tank in helping to create and develop the sessions.

The board is comprised of approximately 40 industry leaders from retail companies — both traditional and non-traditional — and key supplier companies. As industry insiders, the board members’ insights and expertise are essential in the creation of sessions that will strongly resonate with attendees. The members also serve as ambassadors for SPECS. Five SPECS veterans were selected as SPECS 2026’s Executive Advisory Board members. The members guide their individual teams, and provide overall program direction.

The 2026 executive leaders are: • David Dillon, principal design lead templates & standards, design, restaurant development, Chick-fil-A; • Sara Iverson-Smith, director of new store development and real estate, Batteries Plus; • Stephen Mattscheck, prototype & specs manager, architecture & engineer dept.

CVS Health; • Lisa Smola-Hollo, director, construction - East, Dutch Bros; and • Joshua Witte, director, energy and sustainability; real estate, property management, Dollar Tree.

Want to take advantage of all that Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS event has to offer?

Register now for SPECS 2025 at: CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

Chain Store Age is gearing up for its annual SPECS conference, which will be held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, March 8-10, 2026.

Now in its 62nd year, SPECS attracts the nation’s top retailers and suppliers involved in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of brick-andmortar stores and restaurants nationwide. The event will combine dynamic keynote addresses, targeted educational content, and plenty of opportunities for networking and business partnering.

The SPECS retail community is comprised of professionals who represent all sectors of the retail industry, from discounters, specialty stores and supermarkets to convenience stores, home-improvement centers and more.

It also includes restaurants and specialty concepts, as well as non-traditional retail, including the financial and health care sectors.

One of the hallmarks of SPECS is the educational program. The 2026 event will feature 30 targeted sessions across six different tracks on the latest trends and innovations related to the design, construction and maintenance of physical stores and restaurants, with insights from retailers and industry experts alike.

SPECS will also feature plenty of business partnering and collaboration opportunities. In addition to interacting with retail executives, business experts and peers during breakout sessions, attendees can foster connections at meal functions as well as on SPECS’ expansive exhibit floor, which features a diverse array of solutions and services designed to provide a better in-store experience for customers and maximize operational efficiencies.

SPECS attendees can also expect a rich and diverse lineup of keynote speakers and enhanced networking receptions.

The achievements of female retail executives in store development and facilities

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

management will be honored at the show with the presentation of Chain Store Age’s “Top Women in Store Development and Facilities Awards.”

“Each year, SPECS brings together the nation’s leading retailers and suppliers across store development and facilities management, said Gary Esposito, SPECS VP and chairman and group publisher for Chain Store Age. “SPECS will continue to adapt and innovate as the industry evolves, providing a community forum where attendees can learn more about the solutions and innovations that can give them a competitive edge.”

SPECS 2026 will tackle some of the industry’s biggest challenges. Among this year’s hot topics are: • Technology and Data-Driven Design: Strategies, Benefits and Best Practices: A look at how customer behavior data, heatmaps and artificial intelligence can optimize store layouts and improve customer experience.

• Recovery and Resilience: Continuity Plans and Prepping for Natural Disasters: Gain tips needed to create a comprehensive disaster plan that protects facilities from potential emergencies.

• Accelerating Retail Rollouts: Strategies for Efficient Multi-Site Renovations: Insights into the best practices fostering effective collaboration between retailers and developer partners during project management.

• Avoiding Construction Liability Landmines: Discover the robust risk management strategies that will prevent liabilities in design and building plans.

• Addressing the Skilled Trades Gap Through Project Management: Experts share the newest initiatives to help overcome the skilled trades gap.

17

TRENDING STORES Oakley’s new flagship in Denver is designed as an immersive, omnichannel shopping experience in a high-tech “bunker style” space that also doubles as a brand museum, showcasing 50 years of eyewear product innovation and athlete partnerships. Highlights include a customization zone where customers can personalize shades with preferred frames, lenses or sport team colors; and an interactive space where shoppers can experience Oakley lenses under changing conditions. A rooftop lounge is available for curated community gatherings from club meetups to athlete meet-and-greets. … “Alternative” luxury menswear brand John Varvatos has opened a flagship, complete with in-house tailors, in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood.

The interior elements include antiques found in Paris flea markets and a combination of vintage and custom-designed furniture in leather, wood and steel. The space also features artwork curated by Morrison Hotel Gallery, known for its fine art music photography, with the photos available for purchase. … Skechers opened a 26,017-sq.-ft. performance-oriented store at Dolphin Mall in Miami. The location features an immersive environment that includes a running racetrack, basketball and pickleball courts, golf green, and soccer and sport adventure areas, all surrounded by state-of-the-art digital LED screens. … Korean beauty retailer Sukoshi opened its its 15th U.S. location, on New

OAKLEY

York City’s Upper East Side, with at least five more stores to open by yearend. By 2026, 40 new stores will join the network. … Netflix’s first immersive entertainment/retail concept, Netflix House, will open at King of Prussia Mall in the Philly suburb of King of Prussia on Nov. 12, and at Galleria Dallas on Dec. 11. … Urban Outfitters’ Maeve brand will open standalone retail stores, with the first opening this fall in Raleigh, N.C. … Sporting goods retailer Scheels, famous for its mega-sized stores filled with a variety of attractions, will open in Oklahoma City in spring 2028. The 300,000-plus-sq.ft. location will house 80 specialty shops under its roof, along with signature attractions such as a Ferris Wheel, candy shop and 16,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. … Wayfair is expanding its large-format retail concept, with 2026 openings planned for The District at Howell Mill in Atlanta, and The Shops at Northfield in Denver. It will open at Ridge Hill in Yonkers, N.Y., in early 2027.

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STORE SPACES Q&A

Hand Dryers: One-time investment provides multiple benefits

R

etailers often focus only on upfront costs when specifying equipment, and restroom fixtures are no exception. Debbie Frangie, global marketing manager, Excel Dryer Inc., spoke with Chain Store Age about why retailers should think long-term when it comes to investing in restroom hand dryers.

What is the biggest mistake that retailers make in specifying hand dryers for restrooms?

The biggest mistake is treating dryers as a commodity instead of a long-term investment. Retailers often focus only on upfront costs. Counterfeit, knock-off or old hand dryers are unlikely to have proper certifications, may use more energy and in the long run are more costly to facilities. High-efficiency dryers cut operating costs by up to 95% and reduce carbon footprints by up to 94%.

Many also overlook hygiene, ADA compliance or sustainability. Excel Dryer’s ThinAir, for example, dries hands in 14 seconds and with eHEPA filtration removes 99.999% of viruses and 99.97% of bacteria.

What are the most important features retailers should consider when selecting a hand dryer?

A key feature is performance. It’s important to have a fast solution that completely dries hands keeps customers moving. Other key features include efficiency — energy-efficient models lower costs and eliminate paper waste — and hygiene. Touchless activation and eHEPA filters support cleaner restrooms.

Design is also key. Excel offers stainless steel, powder coating and digital imaging for logos or colors. Our Xchanger kits can easily replace paper towel dispensers.

Balancing speed, sustainability, hygiene and design ensures better customer experience.

Tell us about Excel Dryer and its products.

Family-owned and operated, Massachusetts-based Excel designs and manufactures all products in the U.S. Our

20

Xlerator set the standard for high-speed, energy-efficient drying, and the lineup now includes XleratoReco, XleratorRsync and ThinAir. All Excel hand dryers have environmental product declarations (EPDs) and health product declarations (HPDs).

This can help retailers such as Tanger Outlets, which was able to achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating by retrofitting their Xlerator hand dryers with eHEPA Filtration.

Additionally, what sets Excel apart is a commitment to innovation, quality and community. Employees take pride in seeing dryers they built in airports, schools and stadiums worldwide. Many have been with the company for decades, creating a culture of craftsmanship and care.

What benefits do hand dryers offer retailers over paper towels?

Dryers eliminate the expense of buying, storing and restocking paper towels. They reduce labor costs tied to refilling dispensers and cleaning up messes. Restrooms stay cleaner without paper littering floors or clogging toilets.

How do hand dryers compare to paper towels cost-wise?

Paper towels bring endless recurring costs for supplies, storage and disposal.

They also require constant production and disposal.

Hand dryers are a one-time investment with minimal maintenance and very low operating costs. Excel’s cost savings calculator shows that high-traffic restrooms can save substantially, with return of investment often in 12 months or less.

Eliminating towels also lowers carbon emissions by thousands of kilograms annually.

What about from a sustainability point of view?

A recent Life Cycle Assessment comparing the impact of hand dryers versus paper towels confirms that Excel hand dryers reduce carbon footprint by up to 94% compared to paper towels, including

Debbie Frangie, global marketing manager, Excel Dryer Inc.

100% recycled options. The cradle-tograve analysis evaluates material, energy, water, and pollutant impacts throughout the product lifecycle.

Excel hand dryers outperform paper towels in eutrophication (water pollution); ascidification (acid rain formation); smog and ozone depletion (air quality impacts); fossil fuel use and emissions (resource depletion, carcinogens, ecotoxicity); and water consumption, being significantly lower than paper towels.

Can Excel help with ADA compliance?

Yes. ThinAir and Xlerator with ADA recess kits meet the 4” wall projection rule, making them accessible to all users. Both models offer adjustable speed and sound, multiple voltage options and a choice of finishes.

Also, antimicrobial wall guards prevent wall damage and inhibit bacterial growth.

These options ensure restrooms are accessible, hygienic and efficient.

Can Excel Dryers be customized to a retailer’s specifications?

Yes. Excel offers the most extensive customization in the industry. Digital imaging permanently integrates logos, colors, artwork or sustainability messages into covers. Retailers can use these options to reinforce branding, highlight green initiatives or enhance décor.

Excel has also partnered with Artists for Humanity to feature youth-created artwork on dryers. Because the designs are embedded into the finish, they do not peel or fade, turning dryers into durable branded assets.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

STORE SPACES

Rita’s Focused on Expansion Chain ramps up growth with flexible formats, adaptive reuse

By Zachary Russell

R

ita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has taken a creative approach to real estate development as it continues to grow its store count.

The East Coast quick-serve chain recently launched a flexible drive-thru prototype that is adaptable to various footprints (500 sq. ft. to 2,500 sq. ft.), including walk-up and drive-thru-only builds. Rita’s also has expanded by converting former banks, dry cleaners and other nontraditional sites into thriving treat shops.

With nearly 600 shops across 30-plus states (total includes 10 international sites), Rita’s has opened 16 new locations so far this year. It plans to launch an additional 19 locations by year end, reinforcing its commitment to thoughtful, strategic growth in key markets, the company said.

Chain Store Age spoke with Lawrence Brown, who joined Rita’s as chief development officer earlier this year. Brown detailed how the chain has expanded its footprint through a flexible real estate model and adaptive reuse.

When was Rita’s launched?

Rita’s Italian Ice was founded in 1984, in Bensalem, PA, by former firefighter Bob Tumolo. It began as a single neighborhood shop serving his family’s cherished Italian ice recipe, which was handed down from his grandmother.

It has grown into a beloved national brand known for spreading happiness through its frozen treats.

What geographic areas is Rita’s expanding into, and how are these markets determined?

Rita’s is especially focused on growth throughout the Sun Belt and Southeastern regions, including Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and the Carolinas. These markets not only align with our warm-weather sweet spot, refreshing guests with treats, but also offer strong brand awareness, rapid population growth, and dense family demographics.

CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

Rita’s is on track to open nearly 40 new locations in 2025. (Credit: Rita’s)

We prioritize areas where our seasonal model can be effectively extended and where our franchisees are well-positioned for long-term, year-round success.

Describe Rita’s store formats and its approach to different types of vacant properties.

Rita’s offers a range of flexible store formats, including walk-up counters, traditional sit-down shops, and increasingly, drive-thru locations, that allow us to adapt to a variety of real estate opportunities.

Our development strategy is increasingly focused on second-generation spaces, especially drive-thru-enabled properties such as former banks, QSRs, coffee shops, dry-cleaners or small-format restaurants.

These sites are ideal for Rita’s because of their existing infrastructure, high visibility and strong traffic flow.

With footprints typically under 1,000 sq. ft., Rita’s is uniquely positioned to bring new life to vacant retail spaces in a cost-effective and time-efficient way. The thing that sets us apart from other brands is our approach to these spaces. Instead of demolishing and rebuilding, we leverage the existing layout and infrastructure to build the Rita’s store. This reduces startup costs and build-out timelines significantly, allowing franchisees to open faster and at a lower expense.

Importantly, locations with drive-thru service perform better. Drive-thru access increases throughput during peak hours,

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

supports mobile and digital ordering, drives higher average checks, and delivers the speed and convenience today’s guests expect.

In colder markets, it also helps extend Rita’s appeal beyond the traditional seasonal window. This adaptive real estate approach enables us to enter new communities quickly and strategically, while providing franchisees with greater flexibility to select the ideal location for long-term success.

How is the chain adapting to changing consumer trends?

At Rita’s, we’re evolving alongside the industry by accelerating our drive-thru expansion nationwide, enhancing our mobile and online ordering experiences to make it easy for guests to interact with us, and leveraging adaptive real estate formats to better meet customers wherever they are.

But just as importantly, we’re doubling down on what makes Rita’s truly special: delivering nostalgia, joy, and family-friendly fun through high-quality, fresh-made treats every day. In a climate where customers seek feel-good, affordable indulgences and franchisees want proven, flexible models, Rita’s is uniquely positioned to thrive.

We’re not chasing trends for the sake of it. We focus on meaningful innovation that honors our legacy while making us more accessible, more convenient, and more relevant than ever.

21

REAL ESTATE

The SPACEMAKERS

Retail space is being leased faster than it has in 20 years. Rents continue to rise. Learn what top developers are doing to keep expansion on track.

By Al Urbanski

A

September market report published by Davidson Kempner—a global real estate investment firm that focuses on properties with underappreciated or overlooked value—predicted that long-term interest rates will continue to rise.

“Higher rates tend to coincide with higher cap rates and increased cost of capital,” read the report. “This typically leads to decreased new construction.”

In other words, the meager 4% retail space availability rate (even lower for Class A space) will continue to plague expanding retailers for some time to come.

“It’s tough,” said Brandon Svec, who consistently tracks real estate availability in his job as CoStar’s national director of retail analytics. “Spaces 10,000 sq. ft. and up are available. But spaces 2,500 sq. ft. and under? They are virtually 25% less available than they’ve been over the past 10 years.”

A CoStar chart in a Q2 “Retail Market Dynamics” study published by JLL reported that the average time between a space being vacated and a new lease for the space being signed is a mere seven months—the shortest period ever tracked by CoStar since it began examining lease signings some 20 years ago.

“Over the last decade, developers have torn down 250 million sq. ft. of retail, and that 250 million sq. ft. has not been rebuilt,” noted Svec. “Creativity is going to be the name of the game from now on, because we don’t expect an uptick in retail real estate construction coming any time in the next decade.”

It’s showtime, then, for retail real estate developers. Higher rents star in their scripts, but so do space-savvy buildouts, refurbished secondary and tertiary market centers, and creative solutions to keep their important retail clients’ dollars-per-square-foot numbers rising.

Chain Store Age spoke to several of them. Read ahead to learn what’s on their minds.

SCOTT SCHNUCKEL CBRE’s Managing Director, Americas Retail Schnuckel just joined CBRE in April of this year. In the 19 years before that, he worked for Kohl’s, ending up as its VP of property development and head of real estate.

Who better to know what’s on the minds of retailers in the Space Stasis era?

“Retailers are much more flexible on co-tenant requirements these days. It wasn’t long ago that we had four or five centers to pick from in a new market, but those days are long behind us,” Schnuckel said.

“You see long-time Class A mall occupiers going into B and C malls. Open-air occupiers going into malls. Outlet brands going into grocery-anchored centers. The guardrails are off.”

What’s making decisions like these more credible is the arrival of predictive analytics software and highly informed customer traffic data.

“Site selection has become more scientific,” noted Schnuckel, “and it's opening new doors for retailers in their expansion efforts.”

22

ADAM SCHWEGMAN Head of retail, Jamestown Jamestown is a developer that covers a wide swath of retail real estate types. It’s more than 90 centers include Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, the Ridge Hill mixed-use center combining office, residential, and top-level retail in Yonkers, N.Y., urban retail, and grocery-anchored centers.

Schwegman observed that the leasing situation is similar across all of those diverse property types.

“It’s absolutely the same in all segments, whether it’s Class A suburban lifestyle centers or premier mixed-use properties,” he said. “Use categories are expanding. We’ve seen concierge dentistry, medical providers—even custom picture framing shops—converging on centers where they’ll draw high-income demographics.”

Schwegman noted that Jamestown, like many other developers, is seeing high demand from retailers looking for smaller spaces.

“I wish we had more small-space inventory. It’s in short supply across the board in our portfolio,” he said.

That’s led to Jamestown carving out 250 sq. ft. micro-spaces that are being filled by brands such as Warby Parker and L’Occitane to connect with consumers.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

REAL ESTATE

ADAM IFSHIN CEO, DLC Management Corporation Adam Ifshin, the founder of DLC isn’t building any new open-air centers, but he sure is acquiring them.

With hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from capital lenders, the Elmhurst, N.Y.-based developer has been on a buying spree of large open-air centers for the past two years. Among them are…

• The 316,000-sq.-ft. Town Center at Cedar Lodge in Baton Rouge, which recorded 3.3 million visits last year, making it the most-visited retail property in the state capital.

• Springfield Commons, a 119,000-sq.-ft. center in Fairfax, Va., anchored by the state’s most visited Home Depot.

• Two centers totaling more than 400,000 sq. ft.—Spring Creek Centre and Steele Crossing—in Fayetteville, Ark. “Now is a wonderful time to acquire under-market rent,” Ifshin said. “You’re gaining control of what will be a scarce commodity. There’s nothing out there, and that’s not going to change anytime soon.”

DLC’s 80-plus centers are all open-air properties. Ifshin believes they provide consumers with a wide range of different brands in great locations that are easy to shop, and that’s why he aims to buy as many of them as he can.

“Open-air centers are where it’s at,” he said. “Every one of our assets can have a Home Goods, a Nike Factory Store, and a Ross’s Dress for Less.”

Ifshin remains bullish on the strength of American consumers. They continue to shop in inflationary times, and he maintains that all classes of society are drawn to the wide variety of tenants in open air centers.

“Even the rich want a bargain,” Ifshin said.

JOSH POAG President and CEO, Poag Development Group While most retail real estate developers have parked their bulldozers and cement trucks, Poag Development Group is busy building new space.

“We saw two years ago that construction had stalled and knew there was going CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

to be a great demand for new space, so we began putting together a pipeline for ground-up developments,” said Poag.

“We knew we wouldn’t be getting the footprints we wanted with second- or third-generation space, so we said, if we could put this together ourselves, retailers are going to do a lot of business with us.”

Three years ago, the Memphis-based company entered into a partnership with JLL that would allow it to focus on development and redevelopment while the global real estate services provider took over leasing and property management for Poag properties.

The first project embarked upon by the new partners was Avenue One in Omaha, a 200-acre, mixed-use property that will hold some 1,500 apartments, 785,000 sq. ft. of office, and 600,000 sq.-ft. of retail.

In 2023, the partnership acquired the 847,000-sq.-ft. Oak Court Mall, not far from Poag’s Memphis headquarters.

“We’ve been looking at Oak Court for 10-plus years,” Poag said. “Now is the right time to take it down and create a ground-up property suited to the current market.”

ERIKA MORASCO VP of property management, LMC In its 70 years of managing shopping centers in the Northeast, Levin Management Corporation (LMC) has learned a few thousand tricks for fitting the right retailers in the right centers.

At the beginning of 2025’s third quarter, LMC closed on 72,300 sq. ft. of leases at its Blue Star Shopping Center in Watchung, N.J. How did this happen?

Long-time anchor ShopRite wanted to build a modern, 72,000-sq.-ft. supermarket at Blue Star, leaving its old building entirely vacant. It won’t stay that way for long. Marshalls and Burlington will be joining it side-by-side. In addition, new leases were finalized with Five Below,

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

I, Cement Robot One of the primary factors hampering new retail real estate construction is the availability of (and high cost of) labor. Over the past few years, however, several companies such as Alquid, COBOD, MaxiPrinter, and MudBots have introduced 3D concrete printers that exude a special formula of concrete able to be produced anywhere in the world with locally sourced cement and gravel.

One developer that has taken advantage of the benefits of 3DCP is Woodstock, Ga.-based FMGI, which has completed two 3DCP projects for Walmart. Chain Store Age spoke with FMGI’s CEO, Darin Ross, to learn more about this new technology.

What is the cost of a concrete printer?

We bought two robots and mixing equipment required for 3DCP. It is a significant financial investment which demonstrates our confidence in the technology and its value in retail real estate construction.

Are 3DCP robots faster than human cement masons?

On our last 3DCP job, we spent 11 days onsite versus 28 planned for traditional CMU [concrete masonry units]. During 3D printing, our team is focused on programming the robot, managing the mix, and overseeing the printing process versus laying block, pouring concrete, and installing and dismantling scaffolding.

It’s important to note, however, that 3DCP will not replace humans completely. It’s a component used in the construction process for a variety of projects, but not all.

What is the cost of concrete printing vs. human labor?

The labor cost is reduced with 3DCP because we can work with a five-person crew versus an eight-to12-person crew. That’s a reduction of 40-to-60% in manual labor costs.

Also, the robot is more precise, more consistent, and can output more production and work for extended hours. Much of those savings of time and money are due to the elimination of scaffolding.

Are the buildings created by the robots better than ones created by human workers?

The psi breaking point of a 3DCP wall is 7000, which is 350% stronger than masonry concrete. We are seeing a 50% reduction in waste as compared to CMU—4.5% waste, down from 10%.

23

REAL ESTATE Taco Bell, and Nails Spa & Beyond.

“The redevelopment at Blue Star, anchored by the new ShopRite, has created tremendous leasing momentum,” said Morasco. “Retailers want to be part of this refreshed environment, and that energy is driving activity across the center.”

LMC relies on its leasing and construction management teams, which work together under one roof to speed new builds.

“Our construction team is very effective at overseeing the process and securing the necessary approvals for space conversions,” Morasco noted.

NAVEEN JAGGI

audiences? Macy’s has done a good job of accomplishing more in smaller stores.

So look at the four walls of your store.

Where can you find under-utilized space?”

He’s convinced that retailers can shift gears in the race for space and accomplish their goals, because they’ve done that time and time again in reaction to changing consumer behaviors.

“Brick-and-mortar brands all went omnichannel but never looked at their online businesses and applied that same customer lens to their stores,” noted Chernofsky.

“I think that’s starting to happen now, but it’s still the tip of the iceberg.”

President of retail advisory services, JLL Jaggi, who keeps an eye on new shopping center builds nationwide, isn’t seeing much of it happening—except for new construction in Sun Belt markets and 20,000-sq.-ft. strip centers going up in densifying markets.

“The spaces available for power center retailers are few. Some of them are starting to open in malls,” he noted. “For them, it’s just getting access to population growth in regions where people are willing to drive long distances to get to the malls. Placer.ai data can tell us where they drove in from and how long they will stay at a center.”

The one retail sector that continues an even pace of expansion, he said, is grocery.

“H-E-B is dedicated to building between 10 and 20 new stores across North Texas alone over the next five years,” he observed.

“And Aldi has been very aggressive in the Midwest. They’re seeing a lot of activity for second-generation space throughout Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois.”

SPENCER JORDAN Senior VP of leasing, Steiner + Associates (Easton Town Center)

Easton Town Center in Columbus may well be the property most prepared to make space for new tenants. Moving current tenants to make space for new arrivals has been an ongoing activity at Ohio’s premier retail-based destination since it opened some 25 years ago.

“We have pushed tenants under parking decks, built mezzanines on top of existing retail,” said Jordan. “When the Gap lease expired, we got them in a smaller space so Lush could take their corner location. We make sure the situation is beneficial for both the retailer that’s coming in and the ETHAN CHERNOFSKY retailer that’s downsizing.”

CMO of Placer.ai One key advantage that Easton holds over most other centers is that its operaChernofsky, like CoStar’s Brandon Svec, tor—Steiner + Associates—maintains a thinks that the battle for good retail space construction crew to handle all the builds is one that will rage on for years to come, and re-builds that are regular occurrences and that retailers must be prepared to find at the property. new ways to fight it.

“We want our tenants to be as produc“The really interesting question is not, tive per square foot as possible. They’re ‘When will more space start being built?’ paying lower rents, and we’re picking up It’s ‘What kinds of new retail strategies new retail space,” said Jordan, who did will begin to emerge?’” said Chernofsky. the leasing for a 100,000-sq.-ft. Fashion “Which brands are going to look for District in Easton’s North District that alternative ways to create space near major opened last year.

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“Occupancy is not our North Star; merchandising is,” Jordan noted. “We’re not driven by just backfilling what exists today. Our obsession is refining the merchandising of the center and pushing ourselves to be the best.”

STEVE WEISS Chief revenue officer, Centennial Dick’s House of Sports is proving to be a game-changer for Centennial, the Dallasbased mall operator and renovator.

“Dick’s is a great illustration of a power brand that is expanding into both larger and smaller markets,” said Weiss. “They’ll soon be opening at our Mission Valley in San Diego and Annapolis Mall in Maryland, both of them filling empty department store spaces.”

Centennial is also experiencing a very strong demand for space in the 2,500-to5,000-sq.-ft. range.

“We are seeing a tremendous trend of rightsizing. Lululemon is doing a number of expansions that are smaller than their common footprints, and Victoria’s Secret is moving down to 7,000 sq. ft. versus 9,000,” Weiss observed. “They understand they can get small and maintain better operating efficiencies.”

JARED PERRONE Senior VP of leasing, Spinoso Real Estate Group One of the 44 malls operated by Spinoso, SouthPark Mall in Strongsville, Ohio, is a textbook example of the shortage of smaller spaces.

“SouthPark had a surplus of tenants in the 2,000-to-5,000-sq.-ft. range and a shortage of tenants in the 8,000-to15,000-sq.-ft. range,” said Perrone.

“We’re prioritizing filling up that small shop space with high- performers.”

Spinoso bought SouthPark because it viewed Strongsville as a populous suburb 30 miles south of Cleveland with little competition from other centers. Most of the brands in the mall have no local overlap with sister stores.

“SouthPark draws seven million visitors a year,” Perrone said. “When we opened Kyuramen recently, the event got over one million impressions on Facebook and Instagram about this restaurant.”

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REAL ESTATE “We’re pushing harder on rents and increases. We sometimes have two or three potential tenants bidding on the same space,” he said. “As landlords, however, we have to be more inventive in taking our centers to the level that make those rents worth it.”

JARED ROTHKOPF JEFF MOOALLEM

Real estate attorney, Polsinelli Law Firm

COO of Urban Edge

As a lawyer handling lease negotiations for top retail brands, Rothkopf has experienced first-hand the fueling frenzy of retail’s “It’s been fun to be in this business and play on offense,” Space Stasis.

Mooallem said. “It’s been a defense business for a long while.”

“I’ve experienced the heaviest volume of leasing transactions New York City-based Urban Edge owns and operates some that I’ve ever seen in my career over the past three years,” 70 retail properties, most of them large, open-air centers in the said Rothkopf. “Even as inflation kept going up or moderatNortheast that stretch from Boston to Virginia Beach. Among ing just a bit, people kept spending. Retailers needed to keep them are Shoppers World in Framingham, Mass. and Bergen finding space.”

Town Center in Paramus, N.J. Lease negotiations are moving at a whirlwind pace in the Urban Edge does not undertake large-scale new construction.

Chicago offices of Polsinelli Law. The company focuses on buying big, well-known centers in pop- “We rep a coffee brand that is quickly sweeping into L.A., ulous areas that draw customers within hour-long drive times.

Phoenix, Austin, and Nashville. When they find a good location, “We will buy a center, tear down existing space and approach it’s a mad rush to make a deal,” he said. “Brokers always have a key tenants like BJ or Lowe's,” Mooallem said. sense of urgency, and now that’s amplified by the client’s urgenRents are rising, and Mooallem expects that to continue for cy and the landlord’s urgency. All parties are rushing to lock in some time. those deals.”

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REAL ESTATE

‘The New Anchors’: How food and beverage chains are fueling retail center visits Quick-serve and fast-casual restaurants are benefitting malls in a big way

By Zach Russell

F

ood and beverage chains of all types are having a major impact on shopping center traffic, with some select chains giving properties an outsized boost in visits.

Whether it be coffee hubs, fried chicken chains, burger joints, or other trending restaurant sectors, quick-serve and fast-casual chains are attracting visitors to shopping centers, who then stay for the retail.

For many years, food and beverage chains complemented traditional tenants. Now, restaurants are often the star of the show.

“A strong food and beverage mix is incredibly important,” said Chris Brandon, senior VP, eat/drink, mixed-use retail at Brookfield Properties, which hosts more than 2,000 eateries in total across its retail portfolio. “Almost half of the guests that traffic our properties cite food as a reason for coming. When we look at how we’re merchandising our centers and the balance between food and beverage versus retail, service or any other categories, depending on the shopping center we could dedicate anywhere from 25-to-45% of the GLA specifically to restaurants as a way to specifically drive traffic to the property.”

According to data from the foot traffic analytics provider Placer.ai, four restaurant chains in particular are leading the pack when it comes to annual visit increases.

From January to August of 2025, Dave’s Hot Chicken has seen visits increase 58.7% compared to the same period in 2024. Cava (19.8%), Dutch Bros (12.6%) and In-N-Out Burger (6.9%) are also having strong performances so far this year according to the data, which includes all locations, not just those at retail centers.

“Given the strong loyalty these brands command, it’s no surprise they generate significant traffic and attract new visitors upon opening,” noted R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai. “As malls continue their evolution into entertainment and lifestyle destinations, we

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In -N-Out

expect the restaurant tenant mix to evolve as well, with an increasing emphasis on brands that offer unique dining experiences or have a strong local following.”

Average visits per location from January to August of this year increased at Dave’s Hot Chicken (5.6%), Cava (3.2%) and In-N-Out Burger (2.8%), while same-store trips to Dutch Bros (-0.5%) were roughly flat.

“In many ways, restaurants in general have become the new anchors,” said Jason Baker, principal at Baker Katz, which specializes in tenant representation, leasing and development in the Houston market.

“I do believe that people would be shocked to know the volume of people that even QSRs can drive to a shopping center.”

In-N-Out gets shoppers in In its July Mall Index report, Placer.ai singled out one mall, in particular, seeing a massive year-over-year rise in visits during the month, showcasing the power of a new tenant that draws consumer interest. Boise Towne Square in Boise, Idaho, a Brookfield center, significantly outpaced the broader category in July, posting 12.2% year-over-year growth versus the national average of 1.3%.

A new In-N-Out location that opened at the mall in late October 2024 has proven

to be a major new traffic driver at the mall.

Since the opening, visits to Boise Towne Square have steadily increased, reported Placer.ai, and other tenants, including other dining establishments, have also benefited from the sustained visit increases. The mall marked the second Idaho location for the popular California-based hamburger chain.

“We look at an open space and try to understand as best we can who is going to be the most productive tenant, whether it’s regional, national or hyper-local,” said Brandon. “We’re always going to target the businesses that we think are going to do the most amount of volume, be the most successful, and present a win-win proposition for both the landlord and the tenant.”

The success of the Boise In-N-Out was not an isolated example of a QSR or fast-casual chain making guests flock to a Brookfield center. In 2022, the company saw traffic spike at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu when a beloved chicken sandwich giant made its debut in Hawaii, showcasing the power of bringing a wellknown restaurant chain to a new market and exciting locals.

“Chick-fil-A is a big part of our portfolio, they are in both food courts and have drive-throughs with us,” said Brandon.

“We added the first Chick-fil-A in Hawaii

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REAL ESTATE to Ala Moana Center and had lines that were football fields long.

Chick-fil-A in Hawaii was not a risky bet, but nonetheless, it is cool to see how productive a brand can be when you make the right decision to bring in a first-to-market tenant to the property.”

Another example he gave outside of the QSR and fast-casual sector were the openings of Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya and Supreme Dumplings at Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco.

The new tenants greatly increased foot traffic to the center, which Brandon noted was an ideal combination of the “right concept, right menu, and right property.”

Coming soon to Stonestown Galleria is fast-growing chicken tender chain Raising Cane’s, which is expected to have the same effect based on the chain’s performance at other centers.

TikTok intel Brandon also noted that his team monitors social media trends to keep up with the ever-changing trendy food and beverage categories.

“If you look at Instagram and TikTok, it’s a good way for us to track what might be appropriate for a shopping center in a given trade area,” he said. “We do our homework as to what new categories may be popping up, but ultimately, the consumer really tells us how they’re eating and what they want to eat when they visit our centers.”

When discussing which new-to-market tenants to bring to a center, Brandon said that Brookfield compares the successes of the chain in similar markets, but ultimately, sales across the board often play the biggest factor.

“The hypothesis has to be rooted in some sort of fact of ‘this brand has worked in XYZ market and in XYZ center,’ and we find similarities between those consumers and that’s why we think we’ll bring it here,” he said, citing The Cheesecake Factory as a full-service restaurant example that tends to succeed wherever one opens.

“We do a lot of business with The Cheesecake Factory, and the reason is because they are very, very consistent,” Brandon added.

“They consistently rack up productive sales numbers and because of that, we like adding them to our centers. They produce results, and their sales are increasing at most properties. That’s something we want.”

If you accepted or processed Discover credit cards between 2007–2023, you could be eligible to get a payment from a class action settlement.

**YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO A SETTLEMENT PAYMENT**

To receive a payment, file a claim by May 18, 2026.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT? A proposed class action settlement has been reached in three related lawsuits. The lawsuits allege that, beginning in 2007, Discover misclassified certain Discover-issued consumer credit cards as commercial credit cards, which in turn caused merchants and others to incur excessive interchange fees. The misclassification did not impact cardholders. Discover denies the claims in the lawsuits, and the Court has not decided who is right or wrong.

Instead, the proposed settlement, if approved, will resolve the lawsuits and provide benefits to Settlement Class Members.

WHO IS INCLUDED? The Settlement Class includes all End Merchants, Merchant Acquirers, and Payment Intermediaries involved in processing or accepting a Misclassified Card Transaction during the period from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2023. To view the full Settlement Class definition, including defined terms and excluded entities, go to www.DiscoverMerchantSettlement.com.

WHAT CAN I GET? To receive a settlement payment, with very limited exceptions, you will need to file a claim by May 18, 2026 and/or provide additional information to the Settlement Administrator. Under the proposed settlement, Discover will make payments to eligible Settlement Class Members who submit valid claims. Discover has agreed to pay between $540 million and $1.225 billion plus interest in connection with this settlement. Your settlement payment amount will be calculated based on a variety of factors.

YOUR OTHER OPTIONS. You can file a claim for a payment by May 18, 2026 and/or provide additional information. Alternatively, you can exclude yourself from the settlement by opting out, in which case you will receive no payment under this settlement and retain any right you may have to sue Discover about the claims in these lawsuits or related to the Misclassified Card Transactions. If you do not exclude yourself, and the Court approves the settlement, you will be bound by the Court’s orders and judgments and will release any claims against Discover in these lawsuits or related to the Misclassified Card Transactions. If you do not exclude yourself, you can object to or comment on any part of the settlement. The deadline to either exclude yourself or object to the settlement is March 25, 2026.

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Visit Online: www.DiscoverMerchantSettlement.com Email: info@DiscoverMerchantSettlement.com Call: 888-655-3176 Dutch Bros

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27

REAL ESTATE a top-performing restaurant has signed onto a site, would-be tenants, including service brands and other restaurant chains, tend to follow suit. This is just In recent months, several quick-serve another way that restaurants bring an “anand fast-casual restaurants have chor effect” to shopping centers, especially made notable expansion committhose under development. ments, even in the face of economic “We did a development on the east side headwinds. Restaurant expansion of Houston where we had a deal with highlights from the summer include the following: 7-Eleven on the corner, then we didn’t have any of the other pads accounted • Qdoba Mexican Eats signed a for on a 10-acre site,” said Baker. “We deal with B Wild Investments to develop 50 new restaurants across were having conversations with different Alaska, Utah, Nevada, Colorado groups, but once we were able to firm up and New Mexico. our deal with Chick-fil-A and give the • Wendy’s opened 21 restaurants in rest of the potential tenants a sense of the the U.S. in the most recent quarter, direction we were going with and who the in addition to expanding internaneighbors would be, it really helped with tionally, and plans to add 1,000 net our leasing. Shortly thereafter, we ended new restaurants globally by 2028. up making a deal with a credit union and • Bojangles inked a deal with Black Bear Diner.”

Hashimi Holding Corporation to make its return to New York City When choosing which restaurant tenants with 20 new locations over the to bring to a given Brookfield property, next decade.

Brandon says that many factors are at • Marco’s Pizza opened 41 new play, including current food and beverage stores in the first half of 2025, and tenants and available space. is currently on pace for a 28% year“A lot goes into it. It could be as simple over-year increase in new store as ‘what categories do we have at the cenopenings for the year. ter and where is there a void?,’” he said. “If we don’t have Mexican food, should we Baker added that in the QSR space, be targeting Mexican food as a category Chick-fil-A in particular makes for an in an effort not to cannibalize some of the ideal tenant both for its popularity among other tenants that we have? There are only guests as well as its breakfast offerings. so many chains that can take something The expanded menu gives the chain an large like 10,000 sq. ft., so that might shift opportunity to boost visits to retail centers where our efforts are going.” in the morning hours, as well as at lunch and dinner time. Coffee chains, like the Full-service vs. QSRs fast-growing Dutch Bros and even the While full-service restaurants are still a market-leader Starbucks, also produce the key part of the tenant mix at shopping same effect. centers, the success of emerging QSRs “Because of the traffic Chick-fil-A gener- and fast-casual chains has led to increased ates and because of their three distinct day competition. parts, the retailers and other restaurants The 2025 Full-Service Reputation around them can count on traffic being Ranking Report from review managedriven from morning to night with them,” ment platform Chatmeter found that he said. “There are some brands, Dutch mentions of value at full-service chains Bros being one of them, where it truly is from consumers dropped by 18% in designed as an in-and-out experience.

2025 compared to the previous year’s They may not have as much in the way of data, showing that full-service restaurants dwell time, but they are still driving traffic are ceding some ground to competitors. to retail centers.”

However, investments in digital ordering, Not only do popular QSRs and fast-caloyalty programs and tabletop technology sual chains drive traffic in a key way, they drove higher customer satisfaction for also greatly improve the leasing process at brands like Outback Steakhouse, Chili’s shopping centers. Baker added that once and Applebee’s.

Food & beverage chains plotting expansion include…

28

Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai.

“Multi-location full-service restaurants have struggled to compete with fast food restaurants on value, but we’re starting to see them adapt to customer feedback and drive positive business momentum,” said John Mazur, CEO of Chatmeter, in the July report. “Customers are no longer just seeking a good deal – they are rewarding brands that are delivering menu creativity and operational excellence.”

20% growth expected Despite increased labor, supplies, and operational costs, restaurant operators of all kinds are optimistic about expanding in the near future. A recent survey from operations management solutions provider Crunchtime Information Systems revealed that on average, operators plan to open 20% more new locations in the next two years than the last two, despite 73% being concerned about economic uncertainty.

Restaurant operators are becoming diligent as they expand, as well. Almost eight-in-10 operators who added at least two new locations within the last two years either replaced or added new tech vendors to better support evolving needs, citing challenges with other vendors during growth, including cost increases, poor support and lack of integration.

Restaurant operators are looking to the future with optimism, and with eateries of all shapes and sizes driving sizeable traffic to shopping centers, commercial development and leasing teams should be feeling positive as well.

“Top-line sales for restaurants are as high as they’ve been any time in the last several years, but profitability is getting squeezed like never before,” said Baker.

“When you see a restaurant chain that’s been a good operator in multiple markets, has a high-quality operating system, and is clearly communicating what they are improving, those are the kind of brands that we want in our projects.”

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

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TECH

Holiday Tech Prep

Agentic AI can help retailers enhance efficiency, shopping experience

By Dan Berthiaume

A

s artificial intelligence in general becomes more an expected component of the retail enterprise, its latest evolution — agentic AI — offers retailers a major asset to support their holiday retail activities, in both the front and back ends.

Agentic AI builds upon the prescriptive capabilities of generative AI to streamline enterprise workflows even further.

Generative AI, which is based on machine learning, can create new content and ideas and create recommendations based on analysis of volumes of data in near-real-time that were previously too big to evaluate.

Agentic AI goes a step beyond by analyzing massive amounts of data in near-realtime and then automatically taking action based on the results. For example, an agentic AI pricing solution could adjust prices based on factors specific to a local store. Or an agentic AI chatbot could automatically issue a customer refund or flag a complaint for fraud depending on its deep-dive analysis of the situation.

Three specific areas where retailers should consider embedding agentic AI capabilities now to ensure preparedness for the upcoming holiday season are shopping, product recommendations and supply chain operations.

Shopping In one significant example of how retailers are streamlining the customer shopping process using agentic AI, Amazon is beta testing a new agentic AI-based shopping feature known as “Buy for Me” in its iOS and Android shopping app for a subset of U.S. customers.

When customers participating in the beta look for branded items in the search bar in the Amazon shopping app, they see relevant results from Amazon and third-party sellers in its store. And in some instances, they see additional relevant products from other stores in a separate section of search results labeled, “Shop brand sites directly.”

Customers can link directly to these sites, or in some cases, will see a link to Buy for CHAINSTOREAGE.COM

Me. To shop brand sites directly using the feature, customers tap on an item that says Buy for Me in search results listed under “Shop brand sites directly.”

They are then taken to a product detail page within the Amazon shopping app and can tap on the Buy for Me button on the product detail page to request Amazon make the purchase from the brand retailer’s website on their behalf.

Customers are taken to an Amazon checkout page where they confirm order details, including preferred delivery address, applicable taxes and shipping fees, and payment method.

Using agentic AI capabilities, Amazon secures the purchase by providing the customer’s encrypted name, address and payment details to complete the checkout process on the brand’s website.

To deliver upon that vision, Kendra Scott developed plans to ensure customers knew when its biggest sales are live, when popular products are back in stock and how to find the perfect gift with personalized gift guides in two-way journeys.

As for Kendra Scott, it can learn who the customer is shopping for, what their budget is, their favorite style and take that information to provide the perfect gift.

By using agentic AI, Kendra Scott anticipates customer needs and continues to elevate its overall experience. These personalization efforts now provide a 5% to 7% incremental sales increase for the business, according to the company.

Supply chain operations

Finally, agentic AI can also assist retailers in managing peak holiday purchase volProduct recommendations umes on the back end. A recent survey of In addition to easing the process of more than 300 global supply chain execpurchasing goods, agentic AI also holds utives from IBM and Oxford Economics potential to help holiday shoppers find reveals C-level supply chain executives are the perfect items. Jewelry brand Kendra already utilizing agentic AI and have high Scott personalizes its entire omnichanfuture expectations for the technology. nel shopping journey both for specific More than six-in-10 (62%) survey gift-giving occasions such as the holidays respondents said that AI agents emand year-round. bedded into operational workflows Using agentic personalization, Kendra accelerate speed to action, hastening Scott launched a personal shopping assis- decision-making, recommendations and tant offering a guided shopping expericommunications. ence to its customers in time for the 2024 And three-in-four (76%) respondents holiday season. said their overall process efficiency will SMS allows the retailer to engage with be improved by AI agents that perform customers in real time and guide them repetitive, impact-based tasks at a faster to the perfect gift at the best price point. pace than people can.

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TECH VIEWPOINT

Every Tuesday

e-commerce. According to estimates from Upcounting which are based on eMarketer data, Amazon will account for 40.4% of U.S. retail e-commerce sales in 2025, totaling $491.65 billion.

No other company comes close to holding this type of share in the overall e-commerce space. Chief Amazon rival Walmart holds an estimated 6% share of the U.S. online retail market.

However, a look at specific online grocery sales results reveals that while Amazon holds a significant presence, it is not the premier player. eMarketer Amazon is setting its sights on online estimates Amazon holds about 22% of the grocery delivery, and the industry needs to market, while vertical leader Walmart will take notice. hold a 32% share by the end of 2025.

The retail giant now offers same-day This gives Amazon two reasons to delivery of fresh perishable groceries to pursue major growth in the online grocery more than 1,000 U.S. cities and towns, sector, which will largely come from with plans to expand the initiative to more delivery. Online grocery not only offers than 2,300 areas across the country by the Amazon more potential for sales gains end of 2026. than other retail sectors where it enjoys This move followed the launch of a the dominant share, it also holds the multi-billion-dollar effort to offer faster prospect of improving its competitive poPrime delivery to more than 4,000 rural sitioning against Walmart by taking share communities by the end of the year. from the discount giant.

Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has told shareholders that the company is Expand value of optimistic about its future in grocery. brick-and-mortar grocery Amazon does not operate in a vacuum, In recent years, Amazon has pulled back nor does it take uncalculated risks. Why its efforts to open a brick-and-mortar is the company focusing so heavily on channel in retail niches such as apparel. digital grocery delivery? Here are a few However, the retailer has been actively key reasons: expanding its physical infrastructure in the grocery space.

Hot market This includes efforts to open new stores Quite simply, grocery delivery of online in its Whole Foods Market and Amazon orders is booming. U.S. online grocery Fresh formats. At the beginning of the sales exceeded $11 billion in August 2025, year, Jason Buechel, CEO of Whole a 14% year-over-year increase and enough Foods, took on an expanded role leadto capture 45% of total monthly online ing Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores, grocery sales, according to the latest Brick indicating Amazon is eyeing growth in the Meets Click Grocery Shopper Survey, segment. sponsored by Mercatus. Brick Meets Click One way Amazon can help ensure the data also indicates delivery sales rose 36% success of its brick-and-mortar grocery year-over-year. growth efforts is to expand the ROI by So online grocery delivery is getting making physical stores delivery hubs for big quickly, which leads to the second its digital grocery business. This produces reason Amazon is taking such a prothe added benefit of also streamlining the nounced interest: delivery process.

Amazon Targets Grocery Delivery: Here’s why

The premier newsletter showcasing technology and multi-channel, seamless retailing.

From e-commerce and mobility to in-store technology and social media, Connected Retail keeps retail executives in the know about the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of retail tech.

Sign up TODAY! www.chainstoreage.com/register

Amazon doesn’t dominate the space It’s no secret that Amazon is generally viewed as the heavyweight champ of U.S. 30

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Dan Berthiaume dberthiaume@chainstoreage.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025 7/14/21 4:03 PM

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OPERATIONS

Top 20

From payments to facilities management, store operations continue to evolve

By Dan Berthiaume

Chain Store Age is celebrating its centennial year with a look at how 20 areas of store operations have been transformed by technology-driven innovations during the past 100 years.

From human resources and store security to checkouts and facilities maintenance, nearly every faucet of retail store operations has been transformed by the deployment of sophisticated digitized systems that have reshaped how stores operate and how retailers interact with suppliers as well as customers.

Financial Operations As long as there has been a retail industry, there have been financial operations to manage. In today’s retail environment, companies must manage financial planning and forecasting, cash flow, accounts payable and receivable, and sales, to name just a few areas.

Over time, retailers have gone from manually managing all these business-critical functions to using spreadsheets to, most recently, streamlining financial operations with leading-edge cloud, automation and AI technologies.

For example, retailers can now utilize AI to enhance the automation of purchase order matching solution by

determining when slight differences in quantities or descriptions on purchase orders are acceptable based on specific business rules. Month-end closing also becomes much simpler and less time- and labor-intensive.

Order Fulfillment Similar to financial operations, retailers have always dealt with fulfilling customer orders. Order fulfillment has become an increasingly complex process since the dawn of e-commerce in the 1990s and even more so since the omnichannel model emerged in the early 2000s.

Today, customer orders come from channels including social media sites,

third-party marketplaces and mobile apps, requiring solutions and strategies that can effectively direct inventory from the appropriate location to fill an order from any of these channels. In addition, brick-and-mortar stores now often serve as fulfillment centers for omnichannel purchase methods such as buy-onlinepickup-in-store, curbside pickup and ship-from-store.

Merchandising Merchandising is a core retail practice whose roots date back to the earliest marketplaces and grew to include scientific approaches to store layout, window dressing, shelving, lighting and fixtures, and branding.

In more recent years, retailers have been applying advanced technology to merchandising, such as mining customer data to determine what products should be stocked at what levels on a regional, local or even store-by-store basis.

In addition, planograms that dictate store layouts have evolved into electronic documents that can be quickly updated, and compliance can now also be tracked digitally.

Other examples of retailers using leading-edge technology for merchandising include visualizing store layouts with augmented reality, predicting customer demand with AI, and tracking in-season performance with AI and ML to make any needed adjustments.

Human Resources

Order fulfillment has become an increasingly complex process since the dawn of e-commerce in the 1990s.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025

Starting with punch card systems which were in wide use by the 1920s and were not fully phased out till the 1980s, retailers have automated and streamlined human resources (HR) management.

HR systems gradually evolved into running on computerized and mainframe-based platforms, and then migrated to cloud, AI and analytical solutions in the 1990s and beyond. Now, retailers 31

OPERATIONS Supply Chain Automation

can leverage enterprise HR solutions that manage tasks such as payroll, absence and time tracking, and scheduling, using analytics to help determine what employees or situations may need extra attention.

Retailers can also manage functions like recruiting and onboarding, expenses, and benefits, all on a single enterprise HR platform. In addition, employees can obtain customized mobile or digital access to manage tasks like viewing pay slips, requesting time off, making changes to tax withholdings, and reporting expenses.

Store Security Starting with locks and guards and expanding to include more sophisticatedmeasures such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, retail security has evolved to keep pace with technology and the changing nature of crime.Among the biggest game-changers: the mid-1960s introduction of electronic article surveillance, which has been constantly updated and and now provides more intelligent inventory management to reduce shrinkage and stop thieves.

With the help of new technologies, retailers have moved beyond reactive surveillance methods to embrace a more integrated, data-driven strategy that allows for more proactive security measures.

These include AI-poweredsystems that analyze data and detect anomalies in real time and advanced video analytics.

Store security has grown increasingly sophisticated as technology — and crime — has evolve

call centers where customers could call with questions and complaints that would be resolved by live phone operators.

Retailers began managing call center operations with software in the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1990s and 2000s, contact points expanded to include email, SMS text and online chat, with many retailers partially or fully automating customer service help desks to automatically resolve lower-level issues and route higher-level issues to human associates.

In the past few years, retailers have taken advantage of leading-edge generative and agentic AI technologies to provide fully automated chatbots which can independently resolve even high-level customer complaints, including making decisions such as issuing refunds.

Digital Security Inventory Management On the digital side, retailers have been While retailers have always used a variety employing a wide variety of security of strategies and tools to manage their solutions to protect their online operainventories, modern inventory managetions since the 1990s. These have evolved ment began with the first computer-based from basic viruses and firewalls to more systems designed to track merchandise complex measures that include biometric flow from source to shelf in the 1950s. sign-in and tokenization of sensitive cusWith the advent of UPC barcodes in tomer data such as passwords, credit card the early 1970s, retailers gained a more numbers and Social Security numbers. accurate view of where inventory was Also, retailers are migrating enterprise located in their supply chains, from source systems to managed cloud environments to shelf. equipped with the latest cybersecurity In the years since, retailers have applied capabilities and protocols. a variety of cloud, RFID and AI technologies to their inventory management Customer Service/Help Desk workflows. For example, AI algorithms The customer service “help desk” began can enable retailers to mine historical with an actual in-store desk where person- data to help accurately predict localized nel would respond to customer inquiries. product demand and better forward store In the 1960s, large retailers began opening merchandise.

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General Motors’ introduction of industrial robots to its assembly lines in the early 1960s ushered in the age of modern supply chain automation, with robotic machinery becoming commonplace in manufacturing plants and distribution centers across industries by the 1970s.

Today, supply chain automation encompasses the use of next-gen AI, robotic, and Internet of Things technologies in the distribution center and beyond. Leaders in this area include Amazon, which developed its first corporate robot in 2021 and has been advancing the development and deployment of warehouse robots. including bipedal humanoid models. Another leader is Walmart, which is re-engineering its global supply chain with real-time AI and automation, are leading retailers in this area.

POS/Payments In the 1970s, technology companies including NCR, IBM and RCA began releasing the first digital cash registers, which had become known as point-of-sale or POS systems. Digital POS terminals had electronic displays and software that could be programmed to perform transactional and accounting functions.

Networked POS systems, where all the POS terminals in a store ran off a single server, began appearing in the early 1980s and had become a standard fixture in retail stores by the early 1990s. Networked POS terminals offered advantages such as streamlined software updates, batch processing of daily sales, and connectivity with other enterprise systems such as inventory management and CRM. The networked POS model enabled the development of modern POS architecture, which includes mobile checkout and self-service kiosks, as well as contactless card payments and digital wallet solutions.

Workforce Management In the 1980s, the emergence of dedicated workforce management technology vendors enabled retailers to digitalize and centralize activities such as time and attendance, scheduling, and forecasting.

In recent years, connected workforce platforms that unify task management, communications, incident management

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OPERATIONS and employee self-service in a single solution have emerged.

Meanwhile, retail management can leverage connected workforce technology to offer associates flexible scheduling options, automate and streamline training and onboarding, and provide associates immediate digital access to store policies and procedures, product information and omnichannel inventory data.

Enterprise Resource Planning Enterprise resource planning, or ERP, is a software platform that integrates all the various operational functions of an organization, such as inventory, merchandising, finance, HR, CRM, and product lifecycle management. Gartner is generally credited with creating the term in the early 1990s, but the roots of the concept go back to material requirements planning systems that retailers began using to comprehensively manage all their inventory processes in the 1960s.

During the past 35 years or so of modern ERP development, the evolution of From streamlining inventory management to optimizing facilities management, advanced data processing and artificial IoT (Internet of Things) technology has transformed retail store operations. intelligence capabilities have turned ERP solutions into real-time data engines that provide unified enterprise visibility, preIn the 1990s, retailers began using the term “reverse logistics” to describe strategies dictive analytics, alerts of potential issues, and solutions that help them streamline the acceptance, processing, and resale or disand streamlined decision-making across posal of customer returns, as well as refunds. These include partnering with third-party all functions of the business. specialists, using physical stores as hubs for drop-off and initial processing of returned items, and providing for direct shipment of returns from a customer’s home to a proProduct Lifecycle Management cessing center.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a holistic approach to product development Pricing and Promotions that encompasses the entire development The advent of electronic shelf label (ESL) technology in U.S. stores in the mid-1990s of a good from initial conception to final enabled retailers to begin centralizing digital price and promotional shelf-level content release in the marketplace. By the midfor automated display.

1990s, it had spread to industries including ESLs replace traditional paper shelf labels with an electronic label that typically uses CPG, consumer electronics and apparel. liquid-crystal display (LCD) or e-paper technology to graphically display information Modern PLM is frequently based on AI such as price and are wirelessly networked to a central server, meaning retailers can technology and generally includes enterautomatically update ESL price and promotional content in real time and easily track prise solutions such as product developwhat information is being displayed on any shelf. ment, design, pricing, merchandising, and marketing.

Compliance Compliance solutions help retailers manage adherence to a wide variety of regulatory Reverse Logistics standards, as well as voluntary efforts such as the large-scale commitments to reduce Returns have always been an issue for carbon output made by leading Tier I retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. retailers, but the emergence of practices Today, all manner of cloud, AI and automated systems are available to help retaillike “bracketing” (customers intentionally ers navigate a myriad of local, state, national and international regulations, as well as buy multiple variations of the same prod- industry and internal standards. These can include regulations and standards for ethical uct and return all but one) and consumer labor, sourcing and supply chain practices, environmental safety and responsibility, expectations for liberal return policies are and more. contributing to their growth.

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OPERATIONS

Self-checkout machines have evolved over the years to encompass standalone kiosks that can perform multiple tasks.

Omnichannel Management

Seamless Operations

While “omnichannel” is still a prevalent term, retail is evolving toward a more “seamless” model where the notion of channels is irrelevant. Omnichannel management of digital and brickand-mortar channels using a single platform, grew out of the “multichannel” model of the early and mid-1990s, where digital and physical operations were managed in parallel.

Omnichannel management solutions create a “single version of the truth” by combining all customer and product data into one system, enabling consistency of customer experience across pricing, inventory, promotions and other key touchpoints.

Rather than focusing on how a customer experience is delivered, retailers are now concentrating on offering one unified, exemplary experience that customers can tap into at their convenience.

Grocery giant Kroger was an early pioneer of seamless store operations that integrate physical and digital elements, rolling out the first self-checkout register in 1986. These solutions grew to encompass standalone kiosks that could accept customer payments, as well as check prices, dispense coupons, and perform other simple tasks.

The emergence of mobile devices as a mainstream tool in the 1990s led to both associates and customers being equipped with dedicated scanning devices, and eventually also smartphone apps, for activities such as self-checkout and price checks.

Most recently, frictionless shopping is the culmination of years of retailer efforts to offer customers a genuine “grab and go” in-store shopping experience provided by in-store solutions such as computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning, as well as AI-equipped smart shopping carts.

Customer Relationship Management Customer relationship management involves centrally storing, analyzing and distributing data from every interaction a retailer has with a customer, including purchases, browsing, store visits and loyalty activity across all channels.

This enables retailers to have a more detailed and in-depth set of customer data to mine for insights, both on an individual and aggregated basis. As a result, retailers can streamline and refine marketing efforts, better target customers with personalized offers (including up-sells and cross-sells), and also tailor marketing, loyalty and merchandising programs.

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Facilities management From its “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” mindset, manual processes and reactive approach, facilities management has evolved into a technology-led, strategic function that has expanded far beyond its roots of essential maintenance to embrace optimal efficiency, sustainability, building wellness and cost-savings.

Modern FM strategies deploy and integrate data analytics, smart devices, IoT (Internet of Things) and other technologies that streamline operations, conserve energy and reduce maintenance costs by providing managers with data and insights into their stores’ physical assets across the entire enterprise.

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