Marketing

Kirkland's SVP of logistics Todd Weier plans to leave the company. The company has begun a search for a new logistics leader.

San Francisco – Gap Inc. will raise the minimum hourly wage for all U.S. employees to $9 in 2014, and then raise it again, to $10, in 2015. The move will affect about 65,000 store employees across the company’s brands, which include Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta, and Intermix. Gap's announcement comes amid a nationwide debate about the minimum wage.

Atlanta – More than 50% of brands don’t have a strategy in place to manage responses to social media complaints from customers. Results of a recent survey conducted by Social Media Marketing University (SMMU) shows that 58.2% of brands receive customer complaints via social media “occasionally,” 10.9% receive them “somewhat often” and 4.9% receive them “very often.”

In total, almost 75% of brands receive social media complaints. In addition, survey results show:

Vertical footwear retailer Keds is launching an omnichannel marketing campaign called the “Keds Brave Life Project.” The campaign is aimed at encouraging positive development of girls and young women.

Danbury, Conn. - Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. has appointed Daniel R. Bradley as its senior VP, Furniture Group. Bradley will lead the merchandising and manufacturing operations for the furniture group.

Bradley’s career in the home furnishings industry includes his most recent role at Furniture Brands International Inc. where he served as president designer brands. Prior to assuming that role, Bradley served as the president and CEO of Ferguson Copeland Ltd. and previously was president of Baker, Knapp and Tubbs.

Hasbro is getting ready to host the 2014 National School Scrabble Tournament, which will be held from April 26-27 at the company’s new Providence, R.I., facility, One Hasbro Place. Scrabble enthusiasts, in fourth through eighth grades, are invited to compete for the $10,000 top prize.

Vancouver, Canada – Lululemon Athletica Inc. is reportedly ending its ban on customers who have resold its goods on sites such as EBay and Amazon.com from purchasing items on its e-commerce site. According to Bloomberg, Lululemon instituted the policy to stop consumers from purchasing and reselling merchandise in bulk, but is rescinding it after a large volume of customer complaints.

HSNi ended 2013 with record customer levels at its HSN and Cornerstone brands, which bolstered the company’s fourth-quarter results.

The company’s total net sales grew 4% over the prior year to $1 billion.