Marketing

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in North Florida on Oct. 11. The stores are located in the Lakeland Park Center in Lakeland and Forest Lakes Plaza in Oldsmar.  

These new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Phoenix -- Molly Busch has joined the Capital Markets group of commercial real estate firm CBRE Group Inc. in Phoenix. A senior associate, Busch will partner with VP Andrew Fosberg.

The duo focuses on investment sales with an emphasis in retail properties. Busch comes to CBRE from Grand Canyon University, where she was the director of marketing for athletics and fan development.

New York -- Twitter is giving over every message ever tweeted to the data scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s famed Media Lab. The social media giant is also giving $10 million (over five years) to fund the new Laboratory for Social Machines (LSM), which will be based at the Media Lab.

Branded lifestyle apparel and footwear company VF Corporation has promoted Scott A. Roe, currently VP, controller and chief accounting officer, as CFO. Roe replaces SVP and CFO Robert K. Shearer, who announced plans to retire in March 2015, after 28 years with the company.

Hibbett Sports has promoted Jared Briskin to SVP and chief merchant. Briskin replaces Rebecca Jones, who left the company this week.

Staples has kicked off a nationwide tour called "Refresh. Recharge. Refuel." The tour aims to encourage office workers across the country to take a break from the daily grind by visiting a large-scale, popup break room stocked with free snacks, coffee and other beverages.

As part of the tour, Staples will host public break room events in 10 major U.S. cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, San Diego and Los Angeles.

It’s official. Following a strategic review of the company’s growth strategies and structure, the eBay board has approved a plan to separate the company’s eBay and PayPal businesses into independent publicly traded companies in 2015, subject to customary conditions.

Men's Wearhouse has named Scott Norris as Men's Wearhouse brand and Moores brand president and Paul Fitzpatrick as Jos. A. Bank's brand president. Additionally, it has appointed Jim Thorne EVP of direct sourcing. All three will report to Mary Beth Blake, the company's president and chief merchandising officer.