A Sephora cosmetics store in New York features monthly art exhibits. Also in New York, Gap shoppers can check their e-mail in an Internet lounge free of charge. Plans are to link the program to a Web site so shoppers can browse for coupons from home. But the Internet isn't the only technology retailers are bringing to stores. Athlete's Foot is rolling out a high-tech scanner that measures and identifies pressure points of a customer's foot.
Sales clerks can then use the readout to suggest the best-fitting shoes.
Still no word when the high-tech machines will hit metro Detroit.