Marketing

Stater Bros. Markets, has promoted John Ciraulo to the position of VP of the meat division. He replaces Kevin Schubert, who will retire in March after 39 years of service.  

Ciraulo has been at Stater Bros. for 28 years and has progressed through a range of both retail and marketing positions. In his new position, he will oversee the marketing and retail operations of the company's meat and seafood divisions.

Ciraulo will report to EVP of marketing Dennis McIntyre.

Hhgregg is offering online ordering with in-store pickup for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad and iPod models and Apple TV devices.

The move comes just a couple of weeks following the retailer’s preliminary third-quarter results which revealed poor performance in the consumer electronics and wireless categories and were below the company’s expectations.

St. Louis - Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has appointed Gina Collins to the position of chief marketing officer, effective Jan. 20, 2014. Collins will lead the Build-A-Bear marketing, public relations, entertainment and creative teams to drive sales growth and profitability.

She will be responsible for branding, marketing, public relations, creative, licensing and corporate sales and will report to Sharon John, CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

New York --- Brookshire Brothers, based in Lufkin, Texas, has entered into an agreement to David's Supermarkets, a 25-store chain based in North Central Texas. Terms were not disclosed.

"We feel like these family-owned stores align with our core value that we are a celebration of family and community," stated Jerry Johnson, president and CEO of Brookshire Brothers. 

Brookshire Brothers operates 123 outlets including grocery stores, convenience stores, free standing pharmacy, tobacco and petro locations.

The back and forth between Jos. A. Banks and Men’s Wearhouse continues. This time the shoe is on Jos. A. Banks’ foot, as the company’s board of directors officially rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from the Men’s Wearhouse.

Jos. A. Bank called the offer, which expires March 28, 2014, and is worth $57.50 per share, or about $1.6 billion, “inadequate and opportunistic.”

In its PizzaRev case study series, CSA Online offers an insider’s look at the conception, initial rollout and growth of the southern Calif.-based fast-casual concept PizzaRev. Likened to “the Chipotle of pizza,” this innovative chain lets customers choose from an artisanal array of toppings to craft their own pizzas very quickly in a high-end stone hearth oven.

New York -- Why do dark horse companies win -- and how do they win?

That topic is the focus of a new book by sales strategist and Elevation Forum founder Dan Mack: “Dark Horse: How Challenger Companies Rise to Prominence.” 

The best leaders and companies bring more than unique products or services to the market -- they consistently tap into the 10 key growth enablers Mack outlines in his book.

Chicago — Jones Lang LaSalle has named Greg O’Brien chief executive officer, Americas. Reporting directly to Colin Dyer, president and CEO of JLL, O’Brien will have overall responsibility for the Americas business. He will be succeeded as CEO, Markets by John Gates. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Currently a member of the firm’s Americas Executive Committee, which sets the strategic direction for the region, O’Brien will now head this group and join the firm’s Global Executive Board.