Marketing

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp., a provider of loyalty and marketing solutions derived from transaction-rich data, said Tuesday it has signed a new, long-term agreement to provide private label credit-card services to women’s apparel retailer J.Jill.

Fort Myers, Fla. -- Chico's FAS announced Tuesday that it has appointed Kent A. Kleeberger to the position of executive VP, COO. 

Kleeberger will replace Jeffrey A. Jones, who is retiring from the company effective March 7. Jones will serve as part-time consultant to the company during a transition period.

Kleeberger, 58, has served as executive VP-finance and CFO of Chico's FAS since joining the company in November 2007. Previously, he was senior VP and CFO for Dollar Tree Stores.

Dallas -- Zale Corp. said Tuesday that it has appointed David F. Dyer, chairman, president and CEO of Chico’s FAS, to its board of directors, effective immediately.

The company also announced the resignation from the board of Charles M. Sonsteby, who had served since November 2006.

Providence, R.I. -- DijiPOP, a leading provider of on-demand digital shopper marketing technology solutions, announced that Walmart Canada has selected the company to power the digital shelf space monetization efforts of its rapidly growing Walmart.ca online property.

As a complement to Walmart Canada’s current advertiser program, DiJiPOP’s technology will integrate deeply with Walmart Canada’s existing proprietary vendor portal, allowing Walmart.ca vendors to reserve premium shelf space.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s reported Tuesday that net income jumped 50% in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 29, and projected its full-year profit would meet Wall Street expectations.

After a strong holiday season, the retailer earned $667 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $445 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 5% to $8.27 billion, just missing analysts’ average forecast for $8.28 billion. Same-store sales increased 4.3%.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penny Co. said Tuesday it has introduced a new logo, designed to symbolize the retailer’s transformation to a more updated and relevant destination.

The new logo emphasizes a new, lowercase “jcp” by positioning it slightly off-centered in a red box while still featuring the company's signature red color. It was designed by Luke Langhus, a third-year graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati.

St. Louis -- Discount grocer Save-A-Lot said Monday it will open five new stores in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods, nearly doubling its store counts in the area.

The subsidiary of Supervalu said the new stores will open on Feb. 24. The additions will give Save-A-Lot 13 Chicagoland stores. The grocer said it expects to open five more locations in the greater Chicago area by February 2012.

MONROE, Mich. -- La-Z-Boy reported that sales for the third quarter declined 4.3%, partly due to ongoing challenges related to housing and consumer confidence. Net income for the fiscal 2011 third quarter was 19 cents per share, which includes a 6-cent tax benefit, versus 21 cents per share in last year's third quarter.

The retail segment's sales increased 9.2%, and it experienced its eighth consecutive quarterly improvement of operating margin performance compared with the prior year, the company reported.

So Target plans to call its new small format stores CityTarget. It was a little over a year ago the company first disclosed plans to open stores ranging from 60,000-sq.-ft. to 100,000-sq.-ft. in urban locations, but the new name was revealed only last week in connection with the announcement of a 2012 opening of a small store in downtown Chicago.

The retail world takes center stage this week as financial markets are poised to dissect a slew of earnings reports from major retailers who will be sharing details on the profitability of holiday sales, perspective on the state of the economic recovery and the outlook for consumer spending during the remainder of 2011.