Picture the dusty, hard-working professional contractor at the end of a long day, tapping out the next day’s job orders — a new supply of nails, screws and bolts, or perhaps additional two-by-fours — from a laptop, smartphone or tablet into The Home Depot’s app.

The Lego Group, the company behind the interlocking toy bricks known just about around the world, “sells more than a building toy,” says Ammon McNeff, president of Bricks & Minifigs. “They sell nostalgia and memories and experiences.”

NRF is proud to provide our members with the online Retail Buying Guide to search for trusted vendors, products and services in the retail industry. Our guide is a user-friendly forum designed to bring suppliers and purchasers together. You can search by keyword, location, company name or category. Available whenever you need it, the Retail Buying Guide makes it easy to locate products and professional services geared to the retail industry. Click here to visit the online Retail Buying Guide! To advertise, please contact Sarah Allen for more information.

“As American as apple pie” might need to make way for a new simile: as American as Jeep. The rugged vehicle tops the Brand Keys survey of most iconic American brands; the survey, now in its 16th year, asks customers about the brands they consider a staple of American pride.

The digital edition of STORES includes must-read pieces, including the articles featured here. Read the current issue and browse the archives for issues you may have missed.

Small business owner Nicole Panettieri is more than a retailer. She’s also a strong advocate for the retail industry. On this week’s episode of NRF’s Retail Gets Real podcast, the New York boutique owner and local business champion talks about community retailing, the important role advocacy plays in retail and her best piece of advice for aspiring business owners.

Thanks to a healthy economy and strong consumer confidence, NRF announced recently that it expects holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — will increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over 2017 to a total of $720.89 billion. The forecast compares with an average annual increase of 3.9 percent over the past five years.

Retailers are expecting a robust holiday season after a strong first half of the year. NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay spoke with Forbes about the challenges retailers are facing, including hiring in a tight labor market and the possible long-term fallout from tariffs and an escalating trade war with China.

Walmart plans to acquire the digitally native, women’s plus-size clothing brand ELOQUII for an undisclosed amount. The all-cash deal includes ELOQUII CEO Mariah Chase, her executive team and its 100 employees, who will continue to be based in Long Island City, N.Y., and Columbus, Ohio.

Global lifestyle brand Rebecca Minkoff announced a partnership with Afterpay, an innovative digital platform that offers interest-free installment plans for online purchases. Afterpay enables shoppers to receive products from Rebecca Minkoff immediately and pay for them in four installments, with no requirement to enter into a traditional loan or pay any upfront fees or interest.

British restaurant intelligence platform Yumpingo has launched in the United States with TGI Fridays, introducing its real-time customer engagement and data analytics technology in restaurants across nine states.

On the heels of the successful launch of Becca’s Bunch on Nick Jr. US on September 24, producer and property owner JAM Media has named JAKKS Pacific Inc. as the global master toy licensee for the property.

Wayfair Inc., one of the world’s largest online destinations for the home, will launch two holiday pop-up shops on November 1. With locations at the Natick Mall in Natick, Mass., and the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J., Wayfair will invite shoppers to explore the unlimited possibilities in home enabled by its flagship ecommerce site.

Little Caesars recently co-developed the first heated, self-serve order pickup station with Apex Supply Chain Technologies. Little Caesars' proprietary Pizza Portal pickup has since been implemented in thousands of its stores nationwide. The customer-pleasing devices are part of RESERVE-N-READY, Little Caesars' new mobile order pickup program that provides busy customers with a fast, easy way to get their own custom pizza.

Checkpoint Systems, a leading global supplier of Electronic Article Surveillance, RFID solutions and Alpha High-Theft Solutions for the retail industry, announced recently that Boscov’s is employing its CableLok® retail security system to reduce shrink while lifting sales in a number of its stores.

rue21, a U.S.-based fast fashion retailer, will use Manthan’s cloud-based solutions for Customer Data Platform, Customer Analytics and Enterprise Retail Analytics, to expand their mission of becoming a customer-centric business.

Lands' End is raising awareness and funding for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through the annual Pink Thread Project. From now through October 31, Lands' End offers three ways to donate to life-saving research. The campaign, in its fifth year, was created to further support the organization's mission to end breast cancer by advancing the world's most promising research.

For its newest limited edition venture, Target is launching a new line of women’s apparel from Vital Voices, a nonprofit group that supports women tackling a wide variety of social issues in their communities. The capsule collection is part of Target’s women's apparel brand “A New Day.’' The line goes on sale October 6 and will be available for just a few weeks in more than 1,000 stores as well as on Target.com.

Global Technology Systems launched Batteries-as-a-Service, the first-ever mobile-power managed-service offering an uncontested solution to support enterprises suffering from financial losses due to poor battery management.

Amware Fulfillment, a leading national warehousing and fulfillment services company, has acquired the fulfillment services unit of Iron Mountain Incorporated, the global leader in storage and information management services. The Iron Mountain Fulfillment Services locations give Amware 15 total fulfillment centers spanning every region of the United States, enabling two-day delivery to 98 percent of the country.

Perfect Corp. and Punky Colour debuted a virtual hair color try-on experience to help consumers instantly test semi-permanent at-home color in seconds directly from a mobile phone or smart device. Customers can experience a range of 25 Punky Colour pigments using the award-winning YouCam Makeup app to display the shades using real-time camera mode for true-to-life accuracy. This unique virtual beauty trial is revolutionizing the DIY hair color shopping experience, giving Punky Colour customers the ability to test drive their complete color range in seconds and ensure a more confident purchase decision.