Marketing

Richardson, Texas -- Wingstop said Wednesday that it has signed two development agreements that will result in 14 new restaurants in the Chicago area.

The multi-unit development agreements include a three-store deal with an existing franchise group and an 11-store deal with Chicagoland Wing Kings.

“We expect to double our presence in the area over the next two to three years," said Bev Rich, senior director of franchise development, Wingstop.

Wingstop currently has 19 restaurants in the Chicago area.

New York City -- The National Retail Federation said Wednesday that it has named five additional retail executives to its board of directors. Each new member, announced during NRF’s101st Annual Convention and Expo in New York, will serve a three-year term.

Plano, Texas -- J. C. Penney Co. has tapped another former Apple executive to join its executive ranks. J. C. Penney announced that Kristen E. Blum has been named executive VP and chief technology officer, effective Jan. 23. She reports to COO Mike Kramer, and has responsibility for the company's jcp.com business and information technology systems.

New York City -- Ahold USA, the U.S. division of Amsterdam-based Ahold, has selected the NCR Advanced Marketing Solution from NCR Corp. to manage offers and promotions to customers. The solution is designed to allow retailers to streamline the management of multichannel promotion delivery by eliminating systems and business processes, while also reducing operations and IT support requirements.

Bensalem, Pa. -- Charming Shoppes announced that Elizabeth Crystal has joined Lane Bryant as senior VP/CMO.

Crystal will develop and lead the brand positioning, marketing, and advertising strategies for the Lane Bryant and Cacique brands. She was most recently the senior VP, worldwide marketing for Revlon and Almay Color Cosmetics.
 

An analysis of retailers’ ad circulars from throughout 2012 conducted by ECRM shows some familiar names dominate the list of top promoted brands and reveals some interesting movements among others.

The ECRM report shows use of circular print ads grew by 5.5% in 2011 despite increased activity overall in the areas of online, mobile and social.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Wal-Mart Stores has named a replacement for Eduardo Castro-Wright, who announced his pending retirement in September. The company announced that Neil Ashe is the new president and CEO of the company's global e-commerce business, effective Jan. 16. Castro-Wright will assist in the transition.

Ashe is replacing Eduardo Castro-Wright who announced his pending retirement in September and will assist in the transition.

San Francisco -- A Tuesday report by Reuters said that Wal-Mart filed a motion on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit filed last October by a regrouping of women whose earlier gender bias class action was ended by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that Neil Ashe, 44, is the new president and CEO of the company's global e-commerce business, effective Jan. 16.

Ashe was most recently president of CBS Interactive, where he led all online properties and also drove development of new ways to distribute programming produced by the media giant and its subsidiaries.

Ashe is replacing Eduardo Castro-Wright, who announced his retirement in September and will assist in the transition.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy announced that Shari Ballard and Mike Vitelli, who had both been president of Best Buy's domestic business, will take on separate jobs, effective immediately. The retailer, which posted disappointing holiday results, said it was undertaking the changes to accelerate its strategy by aligning the company's senior operating talent with its highest priorities.