Marketing

Minneapolis – Target has named former U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to its board of directors.

Salazar, 58, was a US Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He was named Secretary of the Interior in January 2009 and stepped down in April 2013. Last month, he became a partner for the international law firm WilmerHale. Salazar is the 12th member of Target's board.

Mary Dillon resigned from the board of directors of Target last month after she was named CEO of Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax is taking its new Business Solutions Center store concept to Chicago’s business-rich Streeterville neighborhood later this summer. The retailer opened its first center in Milwaukee back in April to test the pilot concept. 

The currently unoccupied street-level location at 550 St. Clair St. will give the retailer 3,900-sq.-ft. of retail space where it will be able to showcase business services, solutions and products to help local entrepreneurs grow their businesses. 

James Petty has joined private equity owned Vestis Retail Group as CEO, effective July 8, to drive new growth opportunities.

Petty joins Vestis, parent company of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports, after serving since 2007 as president of retail stores for Carter’s Inc. Petty left Carter’s last December after a restructuring resulted in Carter’s relocating its retail group to its Atlanta headquarters from Connectticut. Prior to Carter’s, Petty held senior roles at Limited Too and Gap, Inc.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — Leading home furnishings retailer Ikea has extended its partnership with ECOtality, a clean electric transportation and storage technologies company, and plans to add 24 Blink electric vehicle charging stations across eight more locations in the United States.

Winston-Salem, N.C. -- Working with franchise partner Taco Holding, S.A. de C.V, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation will open its 100th store in Cancun, Mexico, on July 6. The store will feature Krispy Kreme's new international café-style store design, including hot doughnuts, barista specialists, a kid's zone and a drive-thru.

Williamsville, N.Y. -- Tops Friendly Markets has officially unveiled 12 former Grand Union stores in eastern and northern New York under the Tops banner at grand re-opening ceremonies.

The new Tops branded stores include stores in Saratoga, Warrensburg, Warren, Franklin, Essex, Clinton and Fulton counties.

Walmart has begun the latest installment of its social media-inspired merchandising initiative known as, "Get on the Shelf."

The program, developed by the company’s digital think tank @WalmartLabs, affords entrepreneurs the ability to have their product featured on Walmart.com and possibly in select Walmart stores. The company issued an open call to anyone with an interesting product to enter between now and July 31 by submitting a video to https://getontheshelf.walmart.com.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Workwear brand Carhartt is collaborating with vehicle seat cover protection manufacturer Covercraft to deliver Carhartt duck seat protection for pickups, SUVs, vans and over-the-road work trucks.