Marketing

For the second year in a row, Sports Authority said most of its stores would open at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

San Jose, Calif. -- RetailNext Inc., a leader in applied Big Data for physical retail, named Marc Dietz as its chief marketing officer.    Dietz comes to RetailNext most recently from IBM where he led worldwide marketing for the company’s SaaS portfolio, including multiple acquisitions such as DemandTec, Coremetrics, and Silverpop.   

No company protects more mobile devices than Otter Products and now the maker of the ubiquitious OtterBox and LifeProof brands has a new CEO.

Atlanta -- Aaron's announced today that John W. Robinson III, executive VP of Aaron's and CEO of its Progressive Leasing unit, has been named CEO of Aaron's, effective Monday, Nov. 10, 2014.    

Teen specialty retailer Rue21 has launched a new juniors plus size division called Rue+ the company said its customers have been asking for.

The Rue+ division is intended to serve as a destination for trendy yet affordable plus size apparel and accessories that will inspire and empower plus sized girls to feel confident in how they look, according to the company. The product offering will be available at Rue21.com and in 22 of the company’s 1,100 stores nationwide.

J.P. Bilbrey, CEO of Hershey, has been appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to President Obama’s newly-established Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA).  

Bilbrey will be one of the 15 private sector leaders providing guidance to the president on strengthening partnerships with African nations to leverage the opportunities for U.S. companies committed to supporting the continent for the long term. 

The private-sector council will focus on strengthening the U.S.’ commercial relationships with African nations. 

New Albany, Ohio –- Abercrombie & Fitch reported net sales of $911.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2014, less than Wall Street forecast, down 12% from $1.03 billion in the year-ago period. The chain cited slowing mall traffic and weaker results in the latter part of the quarter.   

Dollar General will honor veterans and their families with a special 11% discount on all qualifying purchases, in-store and online, on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.