Marketing

New York -- Alibaba Group wants small business owners from the United States to sell their merchandise on its e-commerce sites is looking for more American products to sell to Chinese consumers.

“We need more American products,” said Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma in a speech at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday.

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Dodgeville, Wis. -- Lands' End announced the appointments of two retail veterans to its executive team which is led by newly appointed CEO Federica Marchionni.

Joseph Boitano, most recently group senior VP and general merchandise manager for Saks Fifth Avenue, has been named Lands’ End executive VP, chief merchandising and design officer.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th will open a store at Christiana Fashion Center in Christiana, Delaware, in October. The 32,000 –sq.-ft. store will be the off-price retailer’s first in the state of Delaware.

New York -- Amazon.com is going big in Texas with the announcement that it will open its fourth fulfillment center in the state.

The new 500,000-sq.-ft., which is currently under construction, will be located at the northeast corner of Interstate 45 and Interstate 20 in Dallas and will bring about 500 new jobs to the area when the facility opens early in 2016. It will process smaller items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods.

When Whole Foods Market announced in May that it planned to open a new chain of stores offering a lower price point and specifically targeting millennials, it’s safe to say that the reaction from industry analysts and observers was underwhelming. Responses have ranged from confusion to outright skepticism, and there is a general sense of uncertainty surrounding the whole enterprise.

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens is collaborating with the new social competition app Challenged to challenge customers to bring their best summer beauty tip to life in a 12-second video using either Circa Beauty or Nonie Creme Colour Prevails products. Beauty expert Lauria Locsmondy of the Walgreens Social and Content creative team will judge the top 3 "viewed" Beauty Challenge videos submitted based on use of Circa and/or Colour Prevails items as primary component of the look, clear steps to achieve the look, and summer-relevant look.

Sunderland, Vt. - William R. McLaughlin has been named as the new president of the Orvis Company Inc. He will succeed Raymond G. McCready, who will retire later this year.  

McLaughlin will assume the post July 27. McLaughlin's early career included leadership roles with Pillsbury and PepsiCo. At Pepsi, he managed several of their international businesses and rose to become president of Frito Lay Europe, Middle East & Africa.  From 2000 to 2012, McLaughlin was president & CEO of the specialty retailer Select Comfort Corp.

Corte Madera, Calif. - RH, Restoration Hardware, will announce plans for the launch of a new business on Thursday, June 11, after market close. RH chairman and CEO Gary Friedman will unveil the new concept during the company’s first quarter fiscal 2015 earnings video.

No other details have been made available at this time.

Burlington, N.J. – Aided by reductions in areas such as interest expense, debt extinguishment and stock option modification, Burlington Stores Inc. more than doubled its net income to $25.69 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $11.77 million the same period a year earlier. The company plans to open 25 stores during fiscal 2015.

Bealls has come up with a creative marketing campaign to leverage the artistic talent of its customers.

The company has launched the Bealls Florida Artist Competition, which will provide the opportunity for new and established artists to have their artwork produced into a line of Florida-inspired products exclusive to Bealls Florida.