Marketing

New York – Japanese retailer Uniqlo continues its U.S. expansion with plans open its first-ever stores in the Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C., metro areas.

In the state of Washington, the retailer will open a 13,000-sq.-ft. location at Seattle’s The Bellevue Collection this fall. In spring/summer 2015, the retailer will open a 10,000-sq.-ft. store at Tyson's Corner Center, and a 22,000-sq.-ft. store on Denver's 16th Street, at The Denver Pavilions.

New York -- Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, has named Victoria Leavitt as CEO of consumer & retail brand experience in North America. She will be based in Cincinnati and report directly to Josh Feldmeth, CEO of Interbrand North America.

City of Commerce, Calif. – 99 Cents Only Stores is opening nine new stores in California between April 9 and April 11. The stores will be located in the communities of San Luis Obispo, Ontario, Sonora, Santee, Escondido, Tustin, San Bernardino, Cypress and South El Monte.

99 Cents Only currently operates 384 stores located in California, Texas, Arizona & Nevada.
 

Atlanta - Sales for first quarter 2015 at Havertys Inc. increased 5% to $191.3 million, compared to $181.7 million for first quarter 2014. Same-store sales rose 3.8%.

Havertys plans to open three new stores in 2015, including a store in Rogers, Arkansas that will open this week and a showroom in Waco, Texas slated to open in mid-May. This expansion into two new markets for Havertys will occur as Havertys strengthens its position in southeast Florida, with a new store in Fort Lauderdale slated for July,

Phoenix – Leslie’s Poolmart Inc. will open 15 new retail locations throughout the U.S. on Thursday, April 9. Cities with new stores will include Auburn, Bakersfield, Ceres, Palmdale; San Mateo and San Rafael, California; Rockledge, St. Augustine and Tallahassee, Florida; Gainesville, Georgia; Glenpool, Oklahoma; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Hudson Oaks, Texas; Queen Creek, Arizona and Monroe, Louisiana.

Boston - Dessange International, owner of Fantastic Sams, Camille Albane and Dessange franchise brands, has promoted Linda Chadwick to president and CEO of Dessange Group North America. Chadwick had previously been the president and COO of Fantastic Sams.

Chadwick will lead Dessange International’s North American expansion of its three salon franchise brands. A veteran franchising executive, Chadwick spent more than 20 years at Burger King Corp., including three years as VP of franchise operations.

Winston-Salem, N.C. - Lowes Foods, a locally-owned and operated grocery chain, has selected Unata’s customer engagement platform for a pilot which will offer a one-to-one e-commerce experience for its shoppers. Lowes’ new Click & Collect customer experience will include a one-to-one personalized homepage and personalized product recommendations across the shopping experience.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. is extending its college tuition assistance plan for workers to cover the entire cost of getting an online bachelor's degree. The coffee giant launched the program with Arizona State University in June 2014. At the time, it was limited to juniors and seniors looking to complete their degrees. But in a major expansion of the benefit, Starbucks said it will now cover the full cost of the four-year online degree.

Leslie’s Poolmart Inc. plans to make a splash in select cities this month as it opens 15 new retail locations throughout the United States on April 9.

During the store grand openings between April 9 and April 13, customers will receive 20% off most everything in the store. Each store's grand opening will also be celebrated with a ribbon cutting and other events.

Lexmark’s evolution into a business information services giant got a boost Tuesday when the company unveiled a rebranding.

The company announced that its Perceptive Software division will switch to the Lexmark name, although its products will remain under the Perceptive banner. The move brings all of Lexmark's recent worldwide acquisitions of business information and software companies under the company's one name.