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First Look: Dollar General’s new smaller-format store, DGX

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Dollar General has unveiled its smaller-store concept, called DGX, in Nashville, Tennessee. A second location is set to open in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The new store, which features 3,400 sq. ft. of selling space, is designed to serve urban shoppers in a convenient, easy-to-shop format. The merchandise mix is geared toward instant consumption and includes a beverage bar, coffee station and grab-and-go sandwiches.

In addition, DGX features a limited assortment of grocery offerings, pet supplies, candies and snacks, paper products, home cleaning supplies, an expanded health and beauty section, and items not typically found in quick-trip stores, including a carefully edited assortment of home décor, electronics and seasonal offerings.

The store also offers a checkout lane geared toward a high-volume, smaller basket size.

“We are excited about our new smaller store concept and the opportunity to serve busy, city-dwellers with everyday low prices on the essentials they need in a convenient, easy-to-shop format,” said Todd Vasos, CEO, Dollar General, Goodlettsville, Tennessee. “The DGX format is geared to meet the needs of the millennial shopper, which is an emerging and important part of our customer base and will help us broaden our appeal to attract a new segment of urban customers who put a high premium on value and convenience.”

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Von Maur destined for Sears space at Woodland Mall

The Iowa-based Von Maur department store chain will be installing a 90,000-sq.-ft. location at PREIT’s Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a space to be vacated by Sears. A 2019 opening is planned.

A 145-year-old, family-owned chain of 31 stores in 14 states, Von Maur’s offerings aspired to the high end with brands like Eileen Fisher, Coach, and Tommy Bahama.

“We like to call ourselves a fashion department store because we focus on more of the fashionable end of the merchandise,” president Jim von Maur told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last year. “We stay away from home goods and focus primarily on fashion, which is apparel, shoes and accessories, with a smaller gift department.”

PREIT is pursuing an aggressive strategy of upgrading its properties with high-end, high-profile retailers, and Woodland serves as a shining example with tenants the likes of Apple, Pottery Barn, Lush, and North Face. Company CEO Joe Coradino is convinced the replacement of Sears with Von Maur will increase profitability at the mall.

“The initiative will solidify Woodland Mall's place as the premier retail and entertainment destination in Grand Rapids, while creating tremendous value at the property by growing net operating income and driving meaningful traffic and sales,” Coradino said.

The Sears store at the 1.2 million-sq.-ft. Grand Rapids mall was one of three recaptured this year by the Philadelphia-based developer. The other two were located at the Capital City Mall in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and the Magnolia Mall in Florence, South Carolina.

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Report: Alibaba says it is being falsely accused of selling counterfeit goods

Amid efforts to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods, Alibaba is in a center of another related fight.

The Chinese e-commerce giant said Thursday, Feb. 9, that several intellectual property (IP) agencies were filing false complaints against vendors that continue to sell fake goods on its e-commerce platforms, said Fortune.

Specifically, Alibaba singled out IP agency Hangzhou Wangwei Technology, a "reputation-protection" firm that is hired by businesses to help manage their IP rights. Alibaba called the agency an abuser of its system for reporting intellectual property thefts, adding that it would no longer process claims made by the firm, Fortune said.

In the report, Alibaba, which is currently taking proactive measures to crack down on counterfeiters, said it plans to investigate claims, and give merchants time to respond before penalizing them.

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