View full sizeThe Republican | Michael S. GordonThe owners of the Lyons Package Store shopping plaza on Westfield Street in West Springfield are seeking a zoning change to allow more business uses.

A 30-store shopping center designed to reflect a Mexican mercado is being built on a Downtown lot where a flea market operated for years.

Construction is to begin soon on Mercado del Paisano at the southeast corner of Paisano and Oregon.

Louis Rosenbaum and his sons, Jerry and Marvin, who own El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express, a bus line based in South El Paso, and who fought a controversial Downtown redevelopment plan several years ago, are building the project on their land.

Louis Rosenbaum decided about two years ago to do the project because he wanted to help improve Downtown, said Harry Page, owner of Downtown Property Consulting, whos overseeing the project for the family.

The Rosenbaums were out of town last week and unavailable for comments.

El Paso Mayor John Cook said one of his and other city officials priorities has been to get the unsightly flea markets removed from one of the gateways to Downtown.

The flea markets give people a poor impression of Downtown as they drive along Paisano, Cook said.

The lot for the mercado has been cleared and leveled and is ready for construction. Another flea market on a nearby lot not owned by the Rosenbaums still operates, but it has been mentioned as a possible site for a new Walgreens store.

Page said the center will be styled as a Mexican mercado with retailers selling only Mexican-style merchandise, including clothes and groceries.

The enclosed 17,500-square-foot center will feature individual stores,

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Sephora is reinventing retail with its new approach to online and in-store shopping. Its social and mobile makeover, unveiled today, includes: an entirely new personalized web experience, new mobile website, iPhone app and iOS devices in over 100 stores. Sephora is also one of the first retail brands to fully integrate with Pinterest, adding “Pin It” buttons to every product and brand page.

“Digital is a must for the future of retailing,” said Julie Bornstein, senior vice president, Sephora Direct. “With the social, digital, mobile and website updates, we’re giving our clients the most customizable experience in the beauty industry, and connecting clients with our experts in the ways that are most relevant to them. We’re excited to makeover the future of shopping.”

Sephora.com gets a whole new look Live today, Sephora unveiled its faster, smarter website that offers the most targeted product search in the beauty category today. Each product on Sephora.com has been tagged and indexed with 25 different characteristics – from relevant data like target age group, to specific ingredients, formulations, fragrance, price and more – so a client can easily find the right product. It took a team of 50 people and 5,000 hours to index and tag every single product, and the result is an incredibly targeted, personal experience.

The Sephora.com makeover also includes 80,000 additional images, product quick-views, more color views and time-saving checkout; clients can place an order in half the clicks, and in half the time.

From Sephora.com clients can also check in-store availability for any of Sephora’s over 300 stores, create favorite product lists, learn the latest trends, get personalized advice, watch tutorials from Sephora’s editors, and interact with experts instantly. All of these new Sephora.com features will also be available on the m.sephora.com site.

Sephora’s new social tools: Pinterest and Instagram Also announced today, Sephora is one of the first major retail brands to fully integrate with Pinterest, the social bookmarking tool for images and video. The Pinterest “Pin It” button is on every product page, letting users pin any of the 14,000 products from Sephora.com. Fans can also check out Sephora inspiration boards, highlighting current looks and new products.

Sephora’s new feed on Instagram will give followers a behind-the-scenes look at the company and its staff, and what trends and products are driving buzz in the beauty world.

Sephora’s new mobile look: iOS devices in every store As part of Sephora’s mobile focus, it is testing iPads in stores. Twenty stores in the U.S. have been outfitted with iPads to give the client another way to navigate Sephora’s thousands of products and interact with a menu of services offered at the Beauty Studio. Sephora is also distributing an iPod Touch to allow sales associates to help clients find and research products through the Sephora app, and allow for faster, mobile checkout.

“Some retailers are afraid to allow devices in their stores, but we embrace it,” said Bridget Dolan, vice president, Interactive Media, Sephora. “We’re bridging the online and offline world, and making it as easy as possible to find the products you want, in a way that’s cool, familiar, and helpful.”

All of the social and digital updates are available beginning today, April 9. To visit the new site go to
www.sephora.com , and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

About Sephora Americas: Since 1998, Sephora has been TRANSFORMING BEAUTY in the U.S. Today, Sephora Americas operates more than 300 stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as the world’s top beauty website, Sephora.com. In 2010 Sephora expanded into Latin America where it partnered with the Brazilian beauty market leader Sacks.com, in 2011 opened two retail stores in Mexico and in 2012 opened one retail location in Brazil. Sephora is well known for its unique retail concept, which is rooted in its distinctive open-sell store design, the beauty expertise of its sales consultants and, most importantly, its unparalleled combination of over 200 classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, bath & body, smilecare, and haircare, as well as Sephora’s own private label. Sephora has also been recognized as a leading digital brand and continues to advance this arena through mobile and social media initiatives including an active Facebook page, BeautyTalk-its online beauty community, its mobile site and Apps. In addition to its North and Latin American business and its initiative with JCPenney, which includes more than 300 Sephora inside JCPenney locations, Sephora today has more than 1,600 stores within 29 countries in Europe and 115 locations in China. Sephora was founded in France in 1970 and acquired in 1997 by Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group. For further information, please visit
www.sephora.com

SOURCE Sephora

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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Bernadette Llaga shops at The Goodwill Store thrift shop in Quincy, Massachusetts, in this file photo. Finding a thrift store you like, checking back often, and shopping with a friend are three tactics Hamm suggests for successful thrift store shopping.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor/File

John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Austin-based natural and organic food giant Whole Foods Market, once cited Trader Joes as a vigorous competitor. Now, Mackey and his Whole Foods colleagues in Austin will get an up-close look at that vigorous competition.

Ending years of speculation, Trader Joes said it will open its first local store in 2013 at the planned Seaholm mixed-use development in downtown Austin. Grocery industry analysts have said Austin could support several Trader Joes stores.

Of all the nationally known retailers to land in Austin over the past decade, its safe to say Trader Joes is right up there in terms of the degree of enthusiasm in which theyre welcomed. Theres even an online petition requesting they open here. So, naturally, were thrilled their first Central Texas store will be at Seaholm, said John Rosato, managing partner of Seaholm Power LLC, the company overseeing redevelopment of the old Seaholm Power Plant.

The former power plant sits on nearly 8 acres at Third and Cesar Chavez streets. Thats just a few blocks from Whole Foods flagship store, which is below the retailers world headquarters.

A 2010 report written by business students at MIT pointed out that Trader Joes and Whole Foods have managed to take novel ideas and scale them across the nation. However, the method in which each chain has decided to bring products to consumers has varied widely.

If consumer surveys are any indication, Whole Foods which is adding two stores in Austin and relocating a third local store could face some siphoning of its Central Texas shopper base.

In a recent survey by Consumer Reports magazine, California-based Trader Joes known for its cheap wine, private-label products and cult-like devotion among shoppers ranked second among 52 of the countrys major grocery store chains. Consumers gave Trader Joes high marks for high-quality meat and produce, a clean shopping environment, very good or exceptional prices, employee courtesy and checkout speed.

A recent survey by software company Satmetrix produced similar results. Trader Joes and another grocery chain, New York-based Wegmans, tied with a score of 73 percent in the grocery category one of the highest grades of any sector in the consumer survey.

To be fair, Trader Joes score of 86 in the Consumer Reports survey was just five notches above the score of 81 for Whole Foods. By comparison, Texas-based grocery chain HEB earned a mark of 80 and Walmart garnered a 69.

The MIT report described Trader Joes as a low-cost, yuppie-loved phenomenon that has created a truly unique customer experience offering high-quality gourmet food at low cost in a fun environment that keeps customers coming back for more.

Founded in 1958, Trader Joes operates more than 360 stores in more than 30 states.

Typically, grocery store shopping is a chore. The original founder, Joe Colombe, decided that going to the grocery store could be radically improved by offering an authentically enjoyable experience to the customer, according to the MIT report. Trader Joes makes grocery shopping fun by prefacing employees names with nautical titleshellip; and wearing Aloha shirts. Product returns are welcome at all times, and the employees are actually helpful.

Make the most of your outlet store shopping

Thrift stores are the cheapest places to buy clothes, but selection can be limited. Next stop: consignment and outlet stores.

By

Trent Hamm,Guest blogger /
March 28, 2012

Eating a diet of mostly unprocessed, wholesome, raw, and even organic foods can help you maintain a healthy weight and even give you more energy. However, healthy food doesnt always come cheap. Free-range eggs, organic chicken, and many organic fruits and vegetables are often priced at a premium and you might find only a very limited selection of healthy foods at your local grocery store. Shopping the perimeter of the grocery store will make it easier to snatch up some of the healthiest items, but you still need to be wary of prices. If shopping for groceries at Whole Foods or other health food stores puts you well over budget, you need to be smarter about how you shop and what you buy.

Here are seven easy ways to save money on healthy food:

1. Get your grains in bulk. Many health food stores, food co-ops, and natural food stores have large bins of whole grains that they sell by the pound. These are usually much cheaper than buying the same grain packaged by a premium organic line or healthy food brand. Organize your pantry to accommodate for larger bins or canisters of rice, wheat flour, oats, flax seeds, and other grains so you can buy in bulk and save.

2. Make a trip to the farmers market. Youll almost always find in-season fruits and vegetables priced lower at the farmers market than at your neighborhood health food store and grocery store. Plan to pick up just a weeks worth of fresh produce from the farmers market so you dont end up throwing most of your haul away. If you end up buying in bulk, dont be afraid to negotiate a good priceespecially close to the end of market hours.

3. Buy more unprocessed foods. The more processing involved to get that grocery item into its packaging and onto the shelf, the higher the cost. Buy whole grains like oatmeal instead of processed oat cereal. Buy a block of cheese instead of a bag of shredded cheeseyoull end up paying less per ounce. Buy a whole cooked chicken instead of buying the canned variety. Buy plain yogurt that you can flavor with your own fruit, honey, or other sweeteners instead of buying cups of flavored yogurt. These small modifications can spell big savings when youre buying groceries for the entire family.

4. Pick up frozen instead of fresh fruits and vegetables. Frozen fruits and vegetables are usually flash-frozen, which means you dont miss out on any of the nutrients you would otherwise get from the fresh versions. Frozen fruits and veggies are usually less expensive than fresh fruits and veggies, and are already cut, bagged, and ready for storage. Look for a stores brand over a name brand to save even more.

5. Make your own healthy baked goods. Low-fat muffins, gluten-free brownies, and other healthy treats from the bakery are usually priced much higher than your typical bakery dessert. Theyre considered premium foods, so youll be much better off baking a large batch at home and freezing any extra for the near future. Whether youre a fan of bran muffins, low-fat chocolate cake, vegan cookies, or gluten-free desserts, scour the Web for some healthy recipes and stock up on the basic ingredients to save on the cost of these sweet treats.

6. Go meatless one or two days per week. Meat-free days will cut your weekly grocery costs significantly and even more so if you have a very large family. Be creative with vegetables or low-cost meat alternatives like tofu so you can save money without compromising on a satisfying meal. From veggie lasagna and tofu bakes, to vegetarian chili and skewered veggies on the grill, there are dozens of tasty, meat-free recipes that end up costing much less per serving than meat-based dishes. Remember, you can always cook a double batch and freeze one batch for the following week.

7. Take advantage of coupons and in-store deals. Bagged vegetables, frozen fruit, and even some seasonal produce can be purchased at a discount with the help of coupons and in-store specials. Monitor your local grocery stores circular to see what healthy items are buy one get one offers for the week and check the newspaper for coupons on brand-name frozen goods and some healthy convenience foods. A few dollars in savings here and there can help to trim down that grocery bill over the course of the month.

Sabah Karimi is a popular Yahoo contributor and a writer for top personal finance blog Wise Bread.

The success of its online sales is inspiring Macys Chief Executive Terry Lundgren to make some changes to the in-store shopping experience, according to a story from Reuters. He hopes to make customers feel as comfortable and ready to buy in the store as they do online.

Some ideas include in-store kiosks that allows customers to see reviews and pay on the spot. Another idea is an electronic concierge in the cosmetics section to recommend skin care products.

A few Macys locations are already testing Beauty Spot kiosks with more appearing in other locations in the coming years, Lundgren said. The retailer is also working on an Endless Aisle platform that could feature on the mobile device specific products available not just in that store but across all locations.

Lundgren told Reuters that he expects Macys online sales to reach $2 billion this year, after rising 40 percent last year. To deliver online products more quickly, 292 of Macys more than 800 stores will also serve as distribution centers by the end of the year. Currently only 23 Macys stores also serve as distribution centers.

Read more about technology.

Standing in tediously long lines at the checkout stand, jockeying for position with your cart in front of the spaghetti noodles and parking a mile away from the entrance of a grocery or retail store are the elements of the daily shopping grind we all dread.

Enter the 24-hour grocery and retail store Wal-Mart, and you’ll find a place where Missoulians not bound by a 9-to-5 schedule can dodge the typical dinner rush for a relaxed shopping experience.

“I don’t like crowds in stores,” AJ Ovnicek said. “It’s why I shop at Wal-Mart. It’s open 24 hours. I find it more convenient.”

Ovnicek is just one of the many night owls who find it more convenient to shop late than to compete with the crowds during the hustle and bustle while the sun is up.

The only time he shops during the day is if he needs to pick up one or two things.

“Then I can use the express lane,” he said.

If you stop in at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Reserve Street during the day, cars pour in and out of the parking lot like water in an overflowing pitcher. The automatic doors are forced to remain ajar as hordes of shoppers flood in and out.

Once inside, it’s a mad house. Like on a thoroughfare in India, there are no traffic laws in the aisles of Wal-Mart. Shoppers push carts in every direction, plowing ahead toward the next item on their list.

Shopping by moonlight can change that stressful shopping experience into an enjoyable night out. For starters, shoppers can actually find parking spots in the front row, preventing the necessary chore from turning into a long trek. Inside the store, shopping aisles that once could hardly be unclogged are clear enough to drive your car through.

“I like that it is a smaller amount of people, less volume, less crowd,” said Wal-Mart cashier Pam Little. “I’m a total night person, so it works for me.”

Late-night shopping ­– and working — is more about a lifestyle than simple convenience for Little, who works 10 pm to 7 am Monday through Friday and does her shopping during her hour-long “lunch” break, which usually starts at 2:30 am

“I’ve been working this shift for three years, so I’m kind of messed up that way,” she said laughing. “I asked for the graveyard shift, as they call it.”

What she enjoys most about the shift, however, are the relationships she is able to build with customers. Unlike daytime workers, who ring up dozens of patrons in a blur, she has built up a rapport with the late-night frequent shoppers.

“We get a pretty regular crowd,” she said. “We are able to be a lot more personable with them.”

One of those customary clients is Sam Skeim, a University of Montana student and part-time waiter at Applebees. He shops late at night because it fits with his schedule.

“I get off work, I go to school all day and then I’m off work at like 10 pm and I go home and de-frag. Then I need to cook something, so I will head to Wal-Mart, even if I just want a snack,” Skeim said.

Skeim swears that night shoppers tend to be more “normal” than their daytime counterparts.

“I see weird people at Wal-Mart at all hours, but I remember one time, during the day, I saw this lady wearing a purple jumpsuit head to toe with no midsection. It was like a one-piece, and she had a rockin’ mullet down her back,” he said. “I would say honestly you see more normal people in the late hours.

“From what I’ve seen is you get younger people or people that have a one-time shop with like two full carts that are buying in bulk and don’t want to back up the lines of the day.”

Of course, there are negatives to the nocturnal procuring. If there weren’t, 5 am would be as busy as its 12-hour counterpart on the clock.

“Sometimes at night there’s like maybe two lanes, and there’s been times where they have been backed up to like Russell Street,” Skeim said.

Little, who not only shops at night, but works for the shoppers, sometimes misses the daylight.

“That’s the worst part of the overnight,” Little said. “Now it’s no big deal, but when the weather is nice, I hate sleeping during the day.”

kyle.houghtaling@umontana.edu

DULUTH, Minn. and DALLAS, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — When customers walk into one of maurices 800+ stores to check out the latest fashion trends, they can now also check in with their smart phones. The retailer has introduced a new branded mobile app to help them enhance their customers in-store shopping experience.#160;

The app, introduced by ATamp;T* and developed using Digbys Localpoint#8482; Mobile Platform, allows the retailer to set virtual perimeters around their stores. Once a customer has the app on their smartphone, and accepts the use of location information, maurices can send the shopper timely messages and offers via a push notification, alerting the user to noteworthy news about the specific store location as soon as they enter the store. Shoppers can also use the app to scan product barcodes in the store, allowing them to read product descriptions and ratings.

The maurices app is just one way the retail chain is communicating through their customers smartphones. The company has also introduced a new optimized mobile website, making it easier for customers to search, browse and buy via the retailers website, on their mobile phones.

As a mobile marketing solutions provider, we offer our customers flexible, tailor-made solutions to meet their needs and the needs of their customers, said Chris Hill, Vice President, Advanced Mobility Solutions, ATamp;T Business and Home Solutions. Its our job to help them stay ahead of communication trends and allow them to better connect and engage with customers.

We know our customers are relying more and more on their smartphones for communication and information, and that their time is valuable, said Brett Trent, Vice President of Ecommerce for dressbarn.com and maurices.com. With the new app and new mobile website, not only can we better communicate directly with our loyal shoppers, but we can also provide detailed, relevant information right at their fingertips, helping them to make informed purchasing decisions.

Digby Localpoint#8482; from ATamp;T

Expanding on its relationship with Digby for mobile marketing solutions, ATamp;T now offers businesses the power to know where their customers are not just what they bought at the register. The Localpoint Platform gives brands the power to interact with consumers in a way that really matters to them. Through web-style analytics into shopping activities at a brands physical locations and targeted location-aware mobile messaging tools, Digby Localpoint from ATamp;T enables brands to attract, influence, understand and own the relationship with their loyal customers across all channels through their own branded mobile experience.

Digby Localpoint from ATamp;T helps brands:

• Effectively engage with consumers through their own branded app, based on their preferences and buying habits
• Understand when their most loyal customers visit their locations
• Uncover conversion rates for products purchased in retail stores
• Drive traffic to their places of business with location-sensitive marketing programs
• Enable consumers to search, browse and buy products from their smartphones whether they are at home, on the go or in the store

The shopping experience is evolving as technology becomes more and more ingrained in our everyday lives, said Dave Sikora, Founder and CEO of Digby. Its important for retailers like maurices to have the capability to connect with loyal customers on a personal level, deliver the information they need and provide a complete shopping experience, whether they choose to shop in-store or online.

To learn more about Digby Localpoint#8482; from ATamp;T, visit www.att.com/digby.

*ATamp;T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of ATamp;T Inc. under the ATamp;T brand and not by ATamp;T Inc.

About maurices

maurices, a brand of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (NASDAQ – ASNA), is the leading hometown specialty store and authority for the savvy, fashion-conscious girl with a twenty-something attitude. Today, maurices operates over 800 stores in 44 states and most recently has expanded into Canada. maurices stands for fashion, quality, value and customer service. Offering sizes 1-26, our styles are inspired by the girl in everyone, in every size. For store information and to shop online, visit www.maurices.com.

About ATamp;T

ATamp;T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates ATamp;T operating companies are the providers of ATamp;T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nations fastest mobile broadband network, ATamp;T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, ATamp;T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any US carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.#160; It also offers advanced TV services under the ATamp;T U-verse#174; and ATamp;T #9474;DIRECTV brands. The companys suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, ATamp;T Advertising Solutions and ATamp;T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.#160;

Additional information about ATamp;T Inc. and the products and services provided by ATamp;T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.#160; This ATamp;T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

#169; 2012 ATamp;T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. ATamp;T, the ATamp;T logo and all other ATamp;T marks contained herein are trademarks of ATamp;T Intellectual Property and/or ATamp;T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.#160; This document is not an offer, commitment, representation or warranty by ATamp;T and is subject to change.

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SOURCE ATamp;T Inc.

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