Marketing

Shares of Etsy enjoyed a meteoric rise during their first day of trading on April 16, closing at $30 a share after shares in the initial public offering were priced at $16.

Retailers who rely on a steady stream of new products from suppliers to drive sales will find a new source of digital inspiration in a product development deal between Mattel and the online collaboration community known as Quirky.

Publix is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year with an annual day of service in which more than 4,000 of its employees will participate in service projects.

Publix employees across the company’s six operating states will be volunteering with more than 125 nonprofits whose focus is on youth, education or the plight of the hungry and homeless.

Retailers with a presence in Denver, San Antonio, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and Dallas should expect strong sales in the months ahead based on a new report which identifies those cities as the nation’s hottest housing market.

Office Depot, along with Walmart, Target and CVS Health, have been named as top companies for women, according to the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Etsy Inc., the online marketplace for handmade arts, crafts and clothing, has gone public with a bang. Shares opened on Thursday at $31 a share, almost twice their initial public offering price. As of April 16, Etsy is trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “ETSY.”

After the offering, the total number of shares outstanding will be 110.9 million. Based on the opening price, Etsy is valued at over $3.7 billion.

Vancouver, Wash. – Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. has appointed Jean M. Birch, Rob Weisberg and Jeffrey B. Welch as independent members of its board of directors, effective April 15, 2015. The appointments replace both Thomas H. Lee and Achi Yaffe, who have resigned from the board, as well as increase the board size by one seat.

Sidney, Neb. - Cabela’s Inc. has appointed James F. Wright to its board of directors. Wright served as executive chairman of Tractor Supply Co. a farm and ranch supply retailer, from January 2013 through December 2013.  

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts has signed a multi-unit store development agreement with new franchise group Legacy Concepts LLC to develop 10 new restaurants in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas of Bloomington, Edina, Eden Prairie and the communities west of the metro area. The first restaurant is planned to open by the end of 2015.

Mooresville, N.C. – Reduced stock awards and incentives resulted in a roughly 24% pay cut for Robert Niblock, president, chairman and CEO of Lowe’s Companies Inc., in 2014. In an SEC filing, Lowe’s reported that Niblock’s total compensation in 2014 came to $14.3 million, compared to $18.7 million in 2013.
  Niblock’s base salary grew 5% to $1.3 million from $1.2 million. However, Niblock’s stock awards fell to $5.8 million from $9.8 million, and other incentives decreased, as well.