Strategy

San Francisco – PBTeen, a Williams-Sonoma retail brand, will open a new store in Huntington, N.Y., on Nov. 7. It will be the first PBTeen location on Long Island, the 16th in the U.S., and also the first combined location of PBTeen, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, with pass-through access to all three stores.

Sports Authority is the latest retailer beefing up staff ahead of the holiday shopping season. The specialty retailer plans to hire up to 5,000 part-time and temporary workers nationwide, a 20% increase from last year.

Sports Authority also plans to convert hundreds of seasonal workers into part-time and full-time team members after the holidays.

Technology continues to evolve at a rapid-fire pace, empowering consumers and businesses with more options and expectations for shopping seamlessly wherever, whenever and however they want. And retailers need to keep up.

In order to succeed in this crucial time, the Naperville, Ill.-based, 900-plus-store office products chain OfficeMax, Inc. recognized that it needed to expedite decision-making to bring website improvements to market more quickly.

Lululemon has appointed Tara Poseley as the company’s chief product officer. In this role, Poseley will oversee the company’s global merchandising and design strategy, working hand in hand with its design team including Deanne Schweitzer, SVP and head of women’s design, and Felix Del Toro, SVP and head of men’s design.

Poseley, who will be reporting to CEO Christine Day, will be responsible for merchandising, inventory, allocation and strategic planning.

New York -- Lululemon has named Tara Poseley as chief product officer. She most recently served as president of Kmart Apparel, where she was responsible for the launch of several new product collections to attract a younger and multi-cultural customer.

Previously, she held the position of interim president at Bebe Stores, president of Disney Stores North America (The Children’s Place) and CEO of Design Within Reach (DWR).

In her role at Lululemon, Poseley will oversee the company’s global merchandising and design strategy.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company on Wednesday reported a better-then-expected 34% rise in its fiscal fourth-quarter and raised its quarterly dividend 24%. The company earned $481.1 million, up from $359 million a year ago.

Total net revenues increased 13% to $3.8 billion, just short of expectations.

Global same-store sales increased 7%, driven by a 5% increase in traffic. Same-store sales were up 8% in the United States and the Americas and 8% in China/Asia Pacific region.

Tucson, Ariz. — Little Caesar Enterprises has signed a 1,494-sq.-ft. lease in Northgate Plaza in Tucson, Ariz. Expected to open in the first quarter of 2014, it will be Little Caesars Pizza’s sixteenth store in Tucson.

Commercial Retail Advisors represented the landlord, TNP SRT Portfolio I, and Retail Advisors Southwest represented Little Caesar Enterprises.

Closeout retailer Tuesday Morning reported a comparable-store increase of 9.1% for the first quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to the year-ago quarter. The comparable-store sales growth was fueled by a 13.4% increase in customer transactions and a 4.3% decrease in average ticket.

The company reported a net sales increase of 6.3% to $183.7 million, compared to $172.8 million in the year-ago quarter.