Duane Reade plans to install HP Retail Publishing Solutions throughout its stores. Following a successful 2008 pilot program in key stores, Duane Reade plans to add HP Photo Center solutions in more than 200 locations in the greater New York City area. The Duane Reade pilot stores achieved up to 50 percent year-over-year improvement versus the chain-wide average in the in-store photo category.

HP Photo Center solutions will enable Duane Reade customers to conveniently order vibrant, lab-quality photos and create a variety of photo products such as photo books, calendars, greeting cards and posters - all while they shop for everyday items to make their lives easier.

"Our brand is all about New York living made easy," said Joe Magnacca, chief merchandising officer, Duane Reade. "Making this level of quality digital photofinishing convenient through HP kiosks and full-service counters across 200 of our stores is one more way we can be relevant and helpful to our customers on a daily basis. We're very happy when we can partner with the best to make life easier for New Yorkers."

Under the agreement, Duane Reade is installing a customized mix of HP Retail Publishing Solutions across its stores. In middle- to high-volume stores, the HP Photo Center provides front and back of counter operations to allow customers to order instant 4 x 6-inch and 5 x 7-inch prints, 8 x 10-inch enlargements, and creative products such as photo books, calendars, greeting cards, posters and 100-year archive DVDs.

In non-photo lab stores, Duane Reade can use the HP Photosmart Express instant-print kiosk - a standalone, self-serve solution designed to produce 4 x 6-inch prints and photo CDs.

Opterus announces the release of Store Ops-Center Version 2.2. Opterus Store Ops-Center is an on-demand retail portal designed specifically to create content, ensure message delivery to stores, monitor task execution and enforce operational compliance.

Offered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, Store Ops-Center is delivered in an on-demand, Web-based retail portal that improves employee productivity with full compliance monitoring of what, how and when tasks are completed and communications are read.

Key enhancements in V2.2 include the following:
- Store Calendar provides stores with a calendar view of their assigned tasks and an event scheduling solution for store-generated and personal entries. All levels of operational management can be configured to have the ability to enter, view and track upcoming store events.

- Survey Creator allows the head office to quickly and easily create store surveys that can be targeted to specific stores, groups of stores, or individual roles within the stores. Survey results can be retrieved and are available in various formats including csv, xml or via Web services.

- Task attachments allow stores to attach files (spreadsheets, documents, pictures, etc.) when completing a task. This could be used as an additional step to validate that the assigned tasks have been completed as per the corporate request.

- Location properties provide an extension of the retail hierarchy, allowing retailers to target tasks and communications at groups of stores based on store attributes. For example, store communications can be targeted based on unlimited attributes such as store size and format, the distribution center that services the stores, the types of services offered within the stores (pharmacy, deli, etc.), and other user-defined criteria.

Dean Street Group implements Jesta I.S. Vision Merchandising and Vision Financials. Dean Street Group went live on the Jesta I.S. platform in just three months time.

Englewood, NJ-based Dean Street Group LLC is an importer and retailer of affordable footwear. Founded in 2008, its principals bring many years of successful product development and retailing from the branded, and make up channels of the footwear business.

Dean Street Group operates as a "shop in a shop" and manages the entire footwear business at 840 Rite Aid Pharmacy locations on the west coast of the United States. Dean Street Group is responsible for all footwear assortment and merchandise planning, procurement and fulfillment.

"From our initial meeting through successful go-live the Jesta I.S. team has proven to be a valuable and professional partner that understands our business requirements," says William Lenich, president for Dean Street Group. "There are many reasons why Jesta I.S. was identified as the right partner for Dean Street, however rich functionality and speed to go-live were the two of major factors."

"We have been able to quickly reap the benefits of the Vision Suite. This integrated offering eliminates the need for re-keying information and will provide management with great visibility," says Margaret Reed, COO for Dean Street Group. "Vision Merchandising is now running our business allowing us to focus our time on critical management decisions. We expect to be live on Vision Planning in the coming months and look forward to even greater rewards from this integrated suite."