Marketing

Canada’s leading food and drug retailer Loblaw Companies is highly regarded for its private label prowess and now its President’s Choice brand is the focus of the most ambitious marketing initiative ever.

With word this week that Walmart will rebrand its small format Express stores under the Neighborhood Market banner, there will be plenty of interest in an upcoming presentation by the retailer’s vp of small formats.

Marc Lieberman, vp of small formats for Walmart U.S., is slated to speak at a Doing Business in Bentonville event on Thursday, October 9. at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Ark., from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Kroger plans to open three new fuel center locations this week — in Abingdon, Virginia; Decatur, Georgia; and Louisville, Kentucky — that bring the company's fuel center locations total to 2,000.  

Kroger operates 1,275 supermarket fuel centers and 725 convenience stores with fuel. Combined, the company sells fuel in 37 states and is the third-largest owner-operator of fuel centers in the United States.

Dublin, Calif. --  dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc. will open a new store in Dallas on Sept. 27.  The store is located at Skillman Abrams Crossing in North Dallas. 

Including this new location, dd’s DISCOUNTS will operate approximately 150 locations in 13 states. The company is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014.

Plug and Play, a business accelerator that specializes in tech startups, is holding its quarterly pitch competition event on its campus in Sunnyvale, California, on Thursday, September 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. PDT. The Plug and Play Fall Expo 2014 will feature 40-plus startup pitches, panel discussions and corporate networking. Chain Store Age will be in attendance — watch for a recap in the next edition of Customer Disruption!

Norwalk, Conn. -- LogicSource, a leading sourcing and procurement services firm, announced a multi-year partnership with Pep Boys. LogicSource will provide on-site resources and access to shared service subject matter experts, optimizing Pep Boys’ strategic sourcing and procurement processes and reducing Pep Boys’ costs and time to market.

The process improvements and costs savings will support Pep Boys’ “Road Ahead” expansion strategy.

Atlanta -- Assurant Solutions and Nebraska Furniture Mart celebrated the 10th anniversary of their relationship by signing a multi-year contract extension recently, covering underwriting and administration of extended service contracts on appliances and electronics.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us and specialty retailer Claire’s have entered into a global partnership to open nearly 100 Claire’s in-store shops in Toys “R” Us locations across Europe, along with 12 U.S. locations, by year-end. The shops will feature an assortment of jewelry, headbands, hair and fashion accessories, jewelry holders, legwear, seasonal items and more. The rollout follows a successful pilot program in Europe.  

Overstock's Android app — which includes Google Wallet checkout, allowing shoppers to check out quickly with the press of a button, and alerts shoppers to daily flash sales — has earned the top ranking in the Google Play Store's Editors' Choice.

Shopko plans to unveil the results of a partial store remodeling project in all of its 133 Shopko stores Sept. 18.

The remodel includes the removal of the stores' large glass jewelry cabinets to make shopping in the jewelry department more convenient and accessible to consumers. Customers will no longer have to wait for a store associate to unlock and remove jewelry items, but will be able to easily see, touch and try on jewelry pieces.