Strategy

Texans love their football so what better way to drive traffic at the opening of a new Sam’s Club in Austin than enlisting some of the game’s biggest legends and rising stars.

Sam’s opened a new club in Austin on April 16 and to turn up the heat in a market accustomed to warehouse club shopping the retailer drafted notable players to appeal to fans of every generation.

Corporate identities don’t get more generic than Brown Shoe Company which helps explain the shift to a new name but most customers won’t even notice.

St. Louis -- One of St. Louis’ oldest public companies and one of the nation’s most diverse footwear companies, Brown Shoe Company, is putting a new foot forward and changing its name to “Caleres,” a Latin word that means “passionate, to glow.” The Brown name, however, will live on in a new men’s footwear business called Brown Shoe Bootmakers that the company plans to launch in 2016.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Gap Inc. are both asking Congress to approve legislation that would reauthorize Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), saying such authority is critical to advancing free trade agreements.

Chattanooga, Tenn. - CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and Horizon Group Properties Inc. have begun construction on the second phase of The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta. The 33,000-sq.-ft. expansion is scheduled to open before the 2015 holiday season and will bring several popular retailers to the center, including Gap Outlet and Banana Republic.

New York -- Office Depot, Walmart, Target, Macy’s and CVS Health are among the top companies for women’s business endeavors, according to the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The list is designed to recognize organizations that integrate policies and programs across the corporation to enable growth and reduce barriers for women-owned businesses; increasing opportunity in new markets – both domestically, and international; fueling innovation; and empowering communities through economic growth and job creation.

Retailers with a presence in Denver, San Antonio, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and Dallas should expect strong sales in the months ahead based on a new report which identifies those cities as the nation’s hottest housing market.

New York - BFC Partners has broken ground on Empire Outlets, a 340,000-sq.-ft. retail complex that will create more than 1,800 jobs and bring $285 million in private investment to the New York City borough of Staten Island.