Marketing

Target may have wanted to draw attention to its Shops at Target program at its media event in New York last week, the press in attendance appeared to be interested in one thing -- Apple.

Though the Target executives present did their best to steer questions toward the topic at hand, they failed to keep reporters from asking about the retailer's partnership with Apple. The persistent reporters, as is required by such a career path, kept at it and did manage to get a few snippets of information from the tight-lipped folks at Target.

Target may have wanted to draw attention to its Shops at Target program at its media event in New York last week, the press in attendance appeared to be interested in one thing -- Apple.

Though the Target executives present did their best to steer questions toward the topic at hand, they failed to keep reporters from asking about the retailer's partnership with Apple. The persistent reporters, as is required by such a career path, kept at it and did manage to get a few snippets of information from the tight-lipped folks at Target.

LOS ANGELES — Kohl's has signed on as the exclusive retail partner of "¡Q’viva! The Chosen," a documentary celebrating Latin culture, music, and dance is making its Spanish-language U.S. debut January 28, 2012 on Univision and will also air on leading networks throughout the Americas, according to a press statement released by Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Jamie King, Simon Fuller and XIX Entertainment.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation announced that Whole Foods Market is the recipient of its prestigious annual Innovator of the Year award.

Walter Robb, co-CEO, will accept the award on behalf of co-CEO and founder John Mackey during the Annual Retail Industry Luncheon at NRF’s 101st Annual Convention and Expo on Jan. 17.

I have to admit it: I was shocked when I heard the news this week that Glen Senk, the widely-admired CEO of Urban Outfitters, was resigning.  Sure, the company wasn’t coming off the best of years, having battled lackluster sales throughout much of 2011. A series of fashion misses — nothing new in the always dicey world of women’s apparel — had taken their toll on profit as the retailer sought to clear slow-moving merchandise with deep discounts.

Walmart’s sharpest critics will acknowledge that much good has come of the company’s sustainability efforts, but there are voices who maintain an inherent conflict exists between saving the planet and a business model based on selling as much low-priced stuff as possible to as many people as possible.

New York City -- Retail companies are experiencing a period of sustained turnover at the top, according to the a new report by Russell Reynolds Associates, which examined turnover and recruitment trends between January 2006 and April 2011 at 81 retail chains headquartered in the United States with annual revenues of $1 billion or more.

The study,” A Perfect Storm: CEO Challenges in Retail,” found that 59% of the retail companies studied experienced a change in CEO leadership during this five-year period. 
In other findings:

Julie Roehm may have only spent a short time in Walmart’s marketing department over five years ago but she made quite a name for herself during that brief tenure and after she was fired. Now, Ad Age is reporting the former Walmart SVP has turned up in a similar capacity at software maker SAP.