Strategy

Vertical footwear retailer Keds is launching an omnichannel marketing campaign called the “Keds Brave Life Project.” The campaign is aimed at encouraging positive development of girls and young women.

San Francisco – Gap Inc. will raise the minimum hourly wage for all U.S. employees to $9 in 2014, and then raise it again, to $10, in 2015. The move will affect about 65,000 store employees across the company’s brands, which include Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta, and Intermix. Gap's announcement comes amid a nationwide debate about the minimum wage.

Lowe's is renewing its partnership with Habitat for Humanity International. A new five-year, $23.5 million donation will bring Lowe's total contributions to more than $63 million since 2003 and is the company’s largest corporate donation to date.

Along with the funding, Lowe's pledged the continued support of Lowe's Heroes employee volunteers. In the past decade, Lowe's employees have donated thousands of volunteer hours in support of Habitat's work.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open four new locations in the greater Chicago area on March 8, 2014. These openings bring the total number of Chicago area stores to 35 for the retailer.

HSNi ended 2013 with record customer levels at its HSN and Cornerstone brands, which bolstered the company’s fourth-quarter results.

The company’s total net sales grew 4% over the prior year to $1 billion.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. is exploring a sale of the company as it reports substantial increases in net income due to its exit from the Canadian market, and smaller increases in net sales for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014. Although the discussions for a sale are ongoing, the company said it has not reached an agreement on a transaction, and there can be no assurance that these discussions will lead to an agreement or a completed transaction.  

Severe weather in the fourth quarter did not prevent Conn’s from reaching its sales objectives, but increases in wholesale television prices affected electronics sales.

Boca Raton, Fla. – As part of its “Maxing Out Diversity” program, OfficeMax is partnering with healthcare company ViaQuest to develop a work-training facility and direct employment program to prepare veterans and people with disabilities for job opportunities at Ohio-based OfficeMax locations. The program, which will launch in summer 2014, is similar to those that OfficeMax has initiated in Alabama, Illinois, and Nevada.