Awards

LOS ANGELES — Virtual Piggy has integrated its youth-friendly payment system to Innovation First International, the company behind the award-winning Hexbug Micro Robotic Creatures and Vex Robotics product lines.

Innovation First International is a technology and engineering company that has launched several robotics product lines spanning the consumer toy, STEM education and business-to-business markets.

New York -- Nordstrom emerged as the top brand in an inaugural benchmark study ranking the digital performance of the world's top department stores by digital think tank L2. Among the 40 stores included in the study, Nordstrom was No. 1, followed Macy's, Saks, and the U.K.’s Marks & Spencer, all of which earned 'Genius' titles.

A social shopping list app called Divvy was chosen from among more than 76 entrants who participated in innovative exercise in crowd-sourced digital development conducted by Target and Fast Company.

The Divvy app was created by a New York-based group that called itself Team Pilot and received a $75,000 prize for their effort. The Divvy app which is designed to improve the group shopping experience by allowing multiple users to update a shopping list in real time while making it easier to split the bill and distribute receipts.

Minneapolis  -- Target has announced the winner of the $75,000 grand prize in its Retail Accelerator contest: a mobile retail concept called “Divvy.” Jointly promoted by Target and Fast Company, the Retail Accelerator competition was designed to foster digital innovation in retail by challenging developers to build a new mobile experience for Target.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Shopko Foundation has announced the recipients of its Teammate and Family Scholarships for the 2013-2014 school year. The foundation awarded $75,000 in scholarships to 30 students in 10 states.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Honeywell chairman and CEO Dave Cote has been named CEO of the Year by Chief Executive Magazine. Cote will be featured on the cover of the magazine’s July issue as well as on ChiefExecutive.net.

The award recognizes the transformation of Honeywell under Cote’s leadership throughout the past decade. During that time, Honeywell has increased sales by 71% to $37.7 billion and has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 during that timeframe.

WASHINGTON — Lowe’s and the USO treated hundreds of servicemen and women and their families to an all-American event headlined by a charity grill-off at Nationals Park to thank the U.S. armed forces and celebrate the Fourth of July. 

Active-duty troops from each branch of the armed services grilled up burgers for the grilling competition.

Cherry Hill, N.J. -- A reimagined Build-A-Bear Workshop will open at Cherry Hill Mall this fall in a new 2,000-sq.-ft. location in the J. C. Penney wing. The new design incorporates technology into the personalized stuffed animal-making experience.