Marketing

Farmington Hills, Mich. -- Pet specialty retailer Pet Supplies “Plus” announced Wednesday that it has promoted Dave Bolen to president and CEO, effective immediately.

Bolen joined the company on May 2 as president, arriving from Petco where he was executive VP and chief merchandising officer.

Prior to Petco, Bolen was executive VP merchandising, marketing and supply chain for Jo-Ann Stores.

Harvey Solway has been promoted from CEO to Executive Chairman.

By Daniel Burrus, burrus.com

New York City -- In an address Wednesday at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles, COO Kevin Turner said that Microsoft hopes to open 75 freestanding Microsoft stores within the next two to three years.

“We’re going to open up to 75 more stores over the next two to three years, and continue to bring our stores outside the U.S. as well, so we’ve got a huge opportunity to get the Microsoft story out there, and we’re going to keep driving that,” Turner said.

New York City -- An overwhelming majority (72%) of retailers report having a “great deal” of cash on their balance sheets and nearly half of them plan to invest some of it on information technology going forward, according to a survey by KPMG. At the same time, the executives’ assessment of the overall business outlook reflects only modest improvements in revenue and hiring in 2012.

Pittsburgh -- GNC Holdings announced that it has made three promotions in its merchandising, marketing and store operations functions. The company also announced that David P. Berg has resigned, effective this September, from his position as COO to pursue other interests.

Thomas Dowd, a 22-year GNC veteran, has been promoted from executive VP store operations and development to executive VP chief merchandising officer, and general manager.

Jeffrey Hennion has been promoted from executive VP chief branding officer to executive VP and CMO.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl's announced that it is launching an online contest to celebrate the fall launch of its exclusive Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony Collections.

Customers are invited to go online and submit a video showcasing why they love Lopez and/or Anthony. Fifteen winners will be selected to win an all-expense paid trip to New York City with their best friend to experience everything that Jennifer and Marc love about their hometown of New York City, the company reported.

MONTVALE, N.J. — A&P announced that it has introduced a new line of locally raised chicken, turkey and beef products exclusively available to customers at select A&P, Pathmark, Superfresh, Waldbaum’s and The Food Emporium stores. All Mid-Atlantic Country Farms products are raised by family-owned farms using humane and sustainable farming methods, reducing the environmental impact of shipping food products over long distances, the company reported.

MIAMI — Regional pharmacy chain Navarro Discount Pharmacy, which currently has 29 stores, has named finance executive Juan Ortiz the company's CFO, to the position of CEO.

Ortiz succeeds CEO Steve Kaczynski, whose expertise in retail merchandising and marketing over the last 18 months has been instrumental in setting a strategic direction for the company and expanding its footprint in South Florida and nationally.

New York City -- Navarro Discount Pharmacy, which currently has 29 stores, has named CFO Juan Ortiz  to the position of CEO.

Ortiz succeeds CEO Steve Kaczynski, whose expertise in retail merchandising and marketing over the last 18 months has been instrumental in setting a strategic direction for the company and expanding its footprint in South Florida and nationally, the company said.