Marketing

At a time when omnichannel retailing is more important than ever for retailers, Gap Inc. is shutting down one of its digital brands.

Gap Inc. said it is dropping its Piperlime channel so the apparel maker and retailer can focus on fixing the problems plaguing the Gap and Banana Republic brands.

Ron Boire was named president and CEO of Sears Canada after serving in that capacity on an interim basis since last October.

Boire was named acting president and CEO last October to replace Doug Campbell, the former head of the 381 unit Sears Canada operation who resigned for personal reasons. Boire was identified as the top candidate for the job at the time the appointment was made as he had spent nearly two years as executive vice president, chief merchandising officer and president of Sears and Kmart formats.

Things didn’t work for Target in Canada, but that hasn’t deterred Japan’s Fast Retailing Co., from announcing plans to enter the market with its UNIQLO format.

The company’s first stores aren’t expected to open until the fall of 2016 when two flagship locations offering budget priced apparel measuring 24,000 and 28,000 square feet are introduced in Toronto.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has appointed George Fairweather, formerly group finance director of Alliance Boots, as executive vice president and global chief financial officer, effective Feb. 20.

Fairweather will succeed Timothy McLevish, who served as Walgreens CFO since August 2014, where he advanced the company’s completion of its merger with Alliance Boots to form Walgreens Boots Alliance and served as the initial global chief financial officer of the combined companies.

NJOY, an independent e-cigarette and vaping company, on Monday announced the appointment of Paul Sturman as its new CEO and president.

Sturman joins the company from Pfizer's consumer healthcare business where he served as global president and general manager. Sturman was responsible for the $3 billion division's global operations, which included development and marketing of such household brands as Advil, Centrum, Chapstick and Robitussin. Before joining Pfizer, he was president of Johnson & Johnson's North American consumer healthcare unit.

The PGA TOUR Superstore only operates 22 locations but it just signed a deal with the Golf Channel that should do wonders for brand awareness in a category that has proven challenging for mass market retailers.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. is shutting down its Piperlime business. The company plans to close the brand’s online platform and single store in New York, by the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.  

The decision comes as Abe Peck, who has led Gap’s growth, innovation and digital unit, gets ready to step into the CEO suite next month.

“We plan to keep on pushing new ideas and look forward to seeing how we can apply what we’ve learned to the rest of the company,” Peck said in a statement.

New York -- Bi-Lo Holdings, parent company of Bi-Lo, Harveys and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, has appointed veteran Australian retail executive Ian McLeod as president and CEO, effective March 2. He succeeds Randall Onstead, who will remain in place through March 2.

San Francisco -- Schneider Electric and Autodesk are teaming up to advance building information modeling (BIM) technology and principles for building lifecycle management. As part of the collaboration, the two companies are exploring ways to complement each other’s strengths to make buildings more energy efficient, from the design and construction stage and continuing through operation and end-of-life phases.

Tarrytown, N.Y. -- DLC Management Corporation announced the promotions of Adam Greenberg and Heather Moon from associate directors of leasing to directors of leasing for their respective regions.
 
According to DLC, both Greenberg and Moon have demonstrated strong deal-making skills through the number of deals they have completed in any given year, problem-solving for key spaces/vacancies, and the execution of overall property business plans.