Marketing

PetSmart has named Phil Bowman as EVP of customer experience, effective June 30. He will report directly to president and CEO David Lenhardt.

Bowman has extensive experience in brand building, digital marketing, e-commerce and customer data analytics, as well as the creation of an integrated customer experience. Most recently, he served as chief marketing officer at TD Ameritrade, one of the world’s largest online securities brokerage companies.

New York – Specialty women’s apparel retailer Cache Inc. intends to offer and sell, subject to market and other conditions, $14 million of its common stock in a public offering. Cache intends to grant the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an aggregate of 15% of the amount of common stock offered.

Cache expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. In connection with the offering, B. Riley & Co., LLC is acting as the sole underwriter.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples has named a veteran marketing executive, Frank Bifulco, as executive VP marketing, effective June 23. Bifulco previously served as chief marketing officer at Home Depot.

In the newly created role, Bifulco will lead marketing across Staples. He will report to Ron Sargent, chairman and CEO, and will be a member of the company’s executive committee.

Every year, one of my personal highlights is the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon convention in Las Vegas. It’s a chance both to connect with the fascinating leaders in our field, as well as to see a few steps into the future. RECon bills itself at the “global convention for the shopping center industry,” and that label is an accurate one: Over 1,000 exhibitors and more than 32,000 attendees make RECon the largest convention in the industry.

The car Dollar General sponsored in this year’s Indianapolis 500 may have finished 14th, but the retailer’s race team gained notoriety for another reason.
 
For the first time ever, the pit crew for the Dollar General sponsored Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team contained a female member tire changer. Jessica Mace became the first woman to “go over the wall,” racing parlance used to described those who work on cars when they enter the pit stall, during the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.
 

The Woodlands, Texas -- Conn’s, a specialty retailer of home appliances, furniture, mattresses, consumer electronics, announced the opening of its first two Conn’s HomePlus stores in Tennessee.

The HomePlus store format showcases furniture and mattresses in addition to the leading brands and the latest technologies in consumer electronics and home appliances. The stores are at Cross Creek, in Memphis, and at Town & Country Commons, in Knoxville.

Foothills Ranch, Calif. -- Fashion retailer Wet Seal Inc. swung to a loss in its  first quarter amid declining sales. The company reported a loss of $21.8 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $3.1 million.

Sales fell 17% to $116.7 million. Total same-store sales, including e-commerce, fell 16.9%.
 
Wet Seal said it was challenged by  weak mall traffic, higher promotional activity and disruptive weather as challenges for the quarter.

I indulged in a shopping center grand opening on May 22 – and I’m glad I did.

Themed “Indulge,” the opening event marked the official unveiling of the nation’s first truly downtown outlet center, Outlet Collection at Riverwalk, located in the heart of New Orleans, and built by West Coast developer Howard Hughes Corp.