Marketing

A 60,000-sq.-ft. Crayola Experience has opened at Mall of America, giving the massive shopping center yet another experiential component to generate traffic.
 
The Crayola Experience is a family attraction that features 25 hands-on activities inspired by Crayola products and technologies and there is also The Crayola Store offering the world's largest selection of Crayola products and unique souvenirs.
 

Chico's FAS Inc. has appointed Susan Lanigan as executive VP and general counsel.
 
Lanigan has 25 years of professional experience and more than 15 years of business experience in the retail industry, including serving as executive VP, general counsel of Dollar General Corp.
 

Tiffany & Co. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue in a lackluster start to fiscal 2016, but still plans to open 11 new stores worldwide.

The retailer reported net earnings of $87 million during the first quarter, down 17% from $105 million the same period a year earlier. Lower gross profit and higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses drove the reduction in profit.

Cameron Geiger, senior VP, Walmart technology, has been appointed to the GS1 U.S. board of governors.

He will help guide the GS1 U.S. strategy for driving adoption and usage of GS1 standards within the retail industry. GS1 standards are used to uniquely identify products, services and locations globally.

The nation’s leading auto parts retailer produced modest sales and profit growth during its third quarter but managed to achieve double digit earnings per share growth thanks to stock buyback activity.

AutoZone sales increased 4% to $2.6 billion during the quarter ended May 7, thanks to the addition of new stores and a 2% same-store sales increase. Net income increased 6% to $327.5 million, while earning per share increased 12.6% to $10.77 as the company spent $533 million to repurchase 687,000 shares.

Doing deals with real estate development and services firm CASTO just got easier thanks to the roll out of a new Web-based software platform called LeasePilot.

LeasePilot was developed by Gadfly Legal Technologies to streamline the lease documentation process and helps owners manage valuable lease information. CASTO is currently using LeasePilot to create the first drafts of leases.

Members of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) elected Elizabeth Holland as chairman, marking only the fourth time in the past 59 years a woman has chaired the organization.

Holland brings a unique skill set to the role given ICSC’s top legislative priority and the upcoming presidential election. The period following the inauguration of a new president is always a critical time in Washington, heralding what is traditionally the most active time in the legislative cycle, according to ICSC.

Amazon.com has been encroaching on Barnes & Noble Education’s collegiate bookstore business with a rapidly expanding network of campus pickup locations, but Barnes & Noble is striking back.
 
Fourteen colleges and universities have selected Barnes & Noble College as their partner of choice to operate their campus bookstores. The 14 new contracts represent 23 new campus and virtual bookstores. The schools represent a projected additional 140,000 students and their faculty.
 

Hotels have become a vital component of successful mixed use retail properties, something Robert Habeeb knows a lot about given his role as president and CEO of First Hospitality Group.
 

Each year, Chain Store Age compiles a ranking of the fastest growing property managers based on the square footage added. See who topped this year’s list.
 
The 27th annual survey of Fastest-Growing Managers tallies new domestic and international third-party management and leasing contracts obtained during the 2015 calendar year and ranks the top performers. As always, the measuring stick is square footage. This year’s fastest-growing third-party managers are taking many roads to growth, from acquisition to a multidisciplinary focus.