Marketing

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm will open a store in Pittsburgh, on Sept. 4.

Located in Bakery Square, the new store will feature a curated selection of products made in Pennsylvania, part of West Elm’s Local initiative. The initiative, launched this year, taps into local entrepreneurship by empowering the teams in West Elm stores to find area makers and designers, building and nurturing a creative network that celebrates craftspeople and differentiates the brand with regional assortments.

Carle Place, N.Y. -- 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire gourmet food and gift retailer Harry & David Holdings for $142.5 million in cash.  

The deal includes Harry & David’s brands and websites as well as its headquarters, manufacturing and distribution facilities and orchards in Medford, Oregon, a warehouse and distribution facility in Hebron, Ohio, and 47 Harry & David stores.

It’s no secret that the position of retail CIO is frequently in a state of flux. For a variety of reasons, retail CIOs will shift their career with a different company, meaning at some point most retail IT professionals will probably find themselves transitioning to a new top boss.

By A.J. Clark, Thermopylae

Broad-line retailer Alco’s shareholders have replaced the company’s board of directors with seven new members, effective immediately. The elections were made at the company’s annual meeting of stockholders in Dallas late last week.

Green Innovations has promoted its VP of sales Jeff Thurgood to CEO

Thurgood has 30 years of industry experience including 16 years with Kimberly-Clark, where he served in the corporate headquarters as national merchandising manager of Huggies Baby Wipes, Depend and Poise Adult Care brands, and as trade marketing director of Target Brands.

Thurgood succeeds Philip Rundle who will serve as a consultant to the company through year-end. According to the company, Rundle is resigning as CEO and member of the board because of a family health matter.

Fred’s second-quarter results reflected the company’s strategic decision to build its business model for the future as a convenience/pharmacy-centric store, driven by data-based inventory management, according to CEO Bruce Efird.

The company reported a net loss of $16.4 million for the quarter. Fred's total sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 increased 2% to $491.2 million. On a comparable-store basis, second-quarter sales decreased 0.1%.

Latina Style magazine last week named Walmart, Target, CVS Caremark and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service four of the 50 best companies for Latinas to work for.
 
Walmart ranked No. 10 on the list, Target No. 36, CVS Caremark No. 41 and the Exchange No. 46.
 
The 2014 Latina Style 50 will be published in the magazine’s special August issue, and the companies will be recognized at the magazine’s awards ceremony and diversity conference early in 2015.
 

Murad, the skin care brand founded by Howard Murad, plans to open in October the company’s first official stand-alone retail boutique.

The freestanding store, which will serve as Murad’s global flagship retail location, will be located in Los Angeles. The opening of the 1,500-sq.-ft. store front coincides with the celebration of Murad’s 25th anniversary this year.

Online sales at regional department store operator Belk grew 43% during the second quarter, prompting the company to announce a major investment in its e-commerce and fulfillment capabilities.