Marketing

Amazon.com is looking to facilitate its same-day deliveries in the New York City area by opening another 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in New Jersey.

Macy’s is looking for charity partners to participate in the retailer’s 10th annual national “Shop For A Cause.”

The retailer’s one-day-only shopping event, which is very popular with shoppers, is designed to support local charities’ fundraising efforts.

Surging sales at Old Navy helped Gap Inc. offset sales declines at its namesake division and its Banana Republic stores in the first quarter.

Gap Inc. reported that for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, Gap Inc.’s net sales decreased 3% to $3.66 billion compared with $3.77 billion for the first quarter last year.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s will debut its off-price business in fall 2014, opening four stores in metro New York City. The new business, one of the department store giant’s major growth initiatives, will be called Macy’s Backstage.

Former Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson is one of three top retail industry executives confirmed as inductees into the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s Hall of Achievement when the trade group holds a gala event in conjunction with its annual meeting this fall.

GMA will also honor former ConAgra Foods CEO Gary Rodkin and Chairman of the Board of Flowers Foods George Deese with the GMA Hall of Achievement Award in August.

For generations, hair and beauty services were exclusively operated as “commission salons,” where owners collected a percentage of fees paid to stylists. About 30 years ago, the booth rental model began to gain traction, where stylists paid a flat fee to occupy a chair in a salon. Not long after the first booth rental model came into being, the first salon suite concept debuted.  

Toronto -- Canada’s Loblaw Companies Ltd. said it will pull its Joe Fresh brand from J.C. Penney stores in the United States at the beginning of next year as it looks to concentrate on freestanding Joe Fresh stores and e-commerce.  

New York – McDonald’s responds more slowly to Twitter commentary than other major fast-food hamburger chains, but tweets more often than Wendy’s or Burger King. According to social media analysis conducted by the Wall Street Journal using a tool from Unmetric, Starbucks has 7.7 million Twitter followers, almost triple the 2.8 million Twitter followers held by McDonald’s, the number two fast food chain on Twitter.

Other findings include:

New York -- Dov Charney, the embattled founder and ousted CEO of American Apparel, is suing the retailer’s controlling shareholder, Standard General, for damages of at least $30 million.
 
Charney accused the hedge fund of an array of misdeeds, including defamation, false light, intentional interference with actual and prospective economic relations, unfair business acts and false advertising, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Sprouts Farmers Market cited strong top-line sales growth as among the reasons for the retailer’s 4.8% comp increase for the first quarter.

Net sales for the first quarter ended March 29 were $857.5 million, a 19% increase compared to the same period in 2014. Net sales growth was driven by strong performance in new stores opened and a 4.8% increase in same store sales growth, the company said.