Marketing

Former Best Buy and Advance Auto Part executives are the newest members of the senior leadership team at the 2,216-store Bridgestone Retail Operations group where chairman and president Stu Crum wants to do the unthinkable.
 
Crum wants to eliminate the smell of rubber from the company’s stores and see the Firestone name mentioned alongside companies such as Nordstrom and Starbucks during conversations about retailers who provide a great customer service experience.
 

New York -- Richard Sharp, the former CEO of Circuit City and driving force behind CarMax, has died due to complications from a rare type of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 67.

Minneapolis -- Tile Shop Holdings announced the appointment of Kirk Geadelmann as its new CFO.

He will transition into the role on August 12, 2014, succeeding CFO Timothy C. Clayton, who has resigned his position to accept an executive position with another company. Clayton will remain with the Tile Shop until mid-August to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.

Prior to joining Tile Shop, Geadelmann worked for 14 years at Best Buy, most recently serving as the corporate and international controller.

New York -- TPG Architecture has promoted Nicole Varadi from senior designer to design director, retail studio.

Varadi, who joined TPG in 2011, will now take on a greater degree of leadership within the retail studio while continuing to work actively on projects. Recently, she helped lead the design of The Red Door, the award winning day spa and beauty boutique in Union Square. She is currently working with brands such as Sundance and Rent the Runway, and is playing an active role in acquiring new business for the firm.

Pittsburgh - American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is entering the U.K. with the opening of three new company-owned stores. The stores will be located in the Bluewater mall in Kent, England, as well as the Westfield Group’s London and Stratford City shopping centers in London, England.

The stores opening in the Westfield centers will include an aerie presence in shop-in-shop form. All of the stores are expected to open during fall 2014.

Betamax. Zune. Google Plus. These are just a few consumer technology applications that hit the market with a lot of hype and all failed to catch on for the same basic reason. It seems clear that the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader tablet can now be considered part of this list, although Barnes & Noble has not yet accepted it.

Online retailer Gilt has added Adrianne Shapira to the company's board of directors.

Shapira has served as the CFO of David Yurman, a fine jewelry luxury brand, since 2012. She is a member of the executive committee that looks to build upon David Yurman's successes by capitalizing on future channel, category and geographic growth.  

Richard Sharp, 67, the long-time CEO of Circuit City who founded used car retailer CarMax has died of Alzheimer’s disease at his home near Richmond, Virginia.

Sharp joined Circuit City in 1982 and served as CEO of the company from 1986 to 2000. Under his leadership, Circuit City enjoyed meteoric growth with sales that increased from $175 million in 1986 to more than $10 billion by 2000. Eight years after he had left the company, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and the following year was liquidated.

Bob McDonald ran the world’s largest CPG company as CEO of Procter & Gamble and now he is returning to public service as head of the embattled Veteran’s Administration.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line’s first-quarter profit more than doubled as the retailer expanded its presence online and in Macy's stores nationwide. Its results topped Wall Street estimates.
 
The retailer reported a profit of $12.4 million, compared to $5.1 million in the year-ago period. Revenue was up 16% to $406.5 million. Same-store sales increased 5%.