Strategy

Silicon Valley startup Shopilly named Dickson Chu to its board of directors.

Shopilly was founded this year to streamline and organize multi-channel retailer communications across hundreds of brands and thousands of daily messages. The company described Chu as someone who has more than 25 years experience at the intersection of financial services, customer insights and the strategic use of technology.　 Most recently he was SVP of merchant solutions at LivingSocial where he was charged with creating a new business unit.

Deerfield, Ill.  -- Walgreens unveiled its newest Chicago flagship, in the historic Noel State Bank building in the city’s Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood. This is the chain’s second flagship in Chicago and, like its downtown State and Randolph flagship location, features an extensive collection of innovative offerings, products and services unexpected from a drugstore.

New York -- For the second year in a row, Nordstrom topped the list of retail companies that keep their employees happiest, followed by Macy’s and OfficeMax, according to an annual survey by CareerBliss. The ranking takes into account employee reviews of their employer based on work-life balance, senior management compensation, benefits and job security.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us announced it has strengthened its global e-commerce capabilities with the launch of a dedicated web store in China. The company also announced the development of mobile-optimized sites and apps in 11 markets around the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the U.K. In the coming months, the retailer will introduce the same capabilities in Portugal, Austria and Switzerland, as well as the Netherlands, where it does not currently have a store presence.
 

New York -- The National Labor Relations Board Federal was not expected to decide before Thursday on whether to seek an injunction on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to stop a union-backed group from encouraging employee walk-outs that are expected to culminate Friday and include protests and rallies outside its stores.

Dallas -- Zale Corp. reported a bigger-than-expected first-quarter loss on Tuesday, but said it is on track to turn a profit again.

The jewelry retailer lost $28.3 million for the quarter that ended Oct. 31, compared to a year-ago loss of $31.9 million.

Revenue rose 1.8% to $357.5 million. Same store sales rose 3.9%. It was the chain’s eighth consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales.

New York -- Baccarat is set to unveil their newest flagship store in New York City in May 2013 ahead of the iconic brand's upcoming 250th anniversary.

Located at 635 Madison Avenue at 60th Street, the 2,800-sq.-ft. store -- designed by Rafael de Cardenas -- will be a new global retail model for the brand, showcasing tableware, lighting, decorative objects and jewelry to reflect the richness of the Baccarat lifestyle and the brand's commitment to innovation and excellence.

Whatever your political views may be, it’s hard not to think about the impact of the recent presidential election on the consumer psyche, and ultimately our industry. Whether President Obama or Mitt Romney would have been better for the economy in the long run is an issue I’ll gladly leave to the political experts and historians. But I do think that, in the near term, we are less likely to see the big holiday spending numbers that some analysts were predicting.

Best Buy on Tuesday continued its string of negative same store stores sales, posting a 4% decline at U.S. stores, and recorded a worse than expected profit.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s has named former Best Buy executive Marise Kumar SVP of strategy and modeling. In her new capacity, Kumar will report to Robert J. Gfeller, customer experience design executive.

Kumar will identify opportunities that positively impact the customer experience. She will work closely with leaders in customer experience and across the organization to ensure opportunities are practical, financially valid and create a compelling experience for customers across all channels.