Marketing

There will be no escaping the long arm of Walmart’s marketing efforts this holiday season as the retail reminds shoppers it has the lowest prices on the broadest assortment of merchandise. Chief merchandising office Duncan Mac Naughton is making sure of that, and on Wednesday he outlined all of the ways the company plans to communicate with shoppers in the months ahead.

Saving people money so they can live better is Walmart’s mission globally, now the company just has to convince shoppers worldwide that shopping at stores that offer an every day low price value proposition is the key to their prosperity.

Boston -- Global private equity firm Advent International announced that Thomas Ryan, former chairman and CEO of CVS Caremark Corp., has joined the firm’s Operating Partner Program. He will advise and work closely with Advent’s investment professionals to identify attractive opportunities and generate post-investment value at retail and healthcare companies globally.

Ryan, who joined CVS Caremark in 1974 as a pharmacist, was appointed chief executive in 1994.

Burlington, Mass. -- Demandware announced that Lush Cosmetics has selected the Demandware Commerce platform to power three new e-commerce storefronts in North America, including its U.S. English, Canadian English and Canadian French sites.

After evaluating several solutions, Lush felt the power of Demandware’s on-demand model would lessen the administrative requirements of its on-premise platform, while providing them with the freedom to custom-develop and support potential multi-site global deployments.

New York City -- Gap executives reaffirmed its commitment to reducing square footage at home, aggressive international expansion and online growth during a presentation at Gap Global Creative Center in New York City. Gap also revealed that its online-only Piperlime division will explore a store concept next year and is testing men’s apparel.

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets reported its third quarter sales increased 6% to $678.6 million and that its comparable-store sales increased 6.5% during the thirteen-week period ending Sept. 24 compared with the same period a year ago.

During the period, the company's net income increased 4.1% to $17 million compared with the same period a year ago.  The company's third quarter earnings per share increased to 63 cents compared with 61 cents per share in 2010.

NEW YORK — Uniqlo’s NYC flagship may at first seem out of place amongst its Fifth Avenue neighbors, including luxury brands Tiffany & Co., Bergdorf Goodman, Louis Vuitton and Prada, but the location signifies the brand’s “made for all” mantra and its appeal to customers of all income levels.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. is continuing its expansion into Latin America with the opening of its first stores in South America in Chile this month. The company also announced plans to open Gap and Banana Republic stores in Panama and Colombia in 2012.

PLANO, Texas — JCPenney Co. said Wednesday it will acquire the worldwide rights for the Liz Claiborne family of brands, as well as the United States and Puerto Rico rights for the Monet brand for $267.5 million.

The company has been the exclusive licensee for all Liz Claiborne and Claiborne-branded merchandise in the United States and Puerto Rico since August 2010.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has announced a $1 million contribution to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Grants of up to $50,000 will fund repairs and renovations at 23 clubs across the United States.

LCEF selected the clubs based on immediate facility improvement needs, the creativity of the projects and the potential impact on club members, Lowe's reported. Club staff will work to complete the projects in the next year and in many cases Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers will provide hands-on help.