Strategy

Milwaukee -- Interior Systems, which specializes in interior design, branding, seating and decor for the restaurant, retail and education industries, announced the appointment of Tony Lutz as its new president and CEO. Founder and former president and CEO, Lindsey Bovinet, is actively continuing with the company as chairman.

Prior to ISI, Lutz worked in advertising at Bell Atlantic in Philadelphia.
 

By Joel Alden, Hana Ben-Shabat, Bobby Wehmeyer and Basil Wuson, A.T. Kearney

To continuously delight customers, most retailers constantly alter product assortments, adjust prices or service offerings and refocus customer experiences. But how often are these actions based on meaningful consumer insights? When the phrase “consumer insight” is misused to refer to simple market research or interesting tidbits of information, then resulting business actions are often hit-or-miss.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Co. has announced a partnership to open a store inside each of the six Disney properties in California and Florida.

The first will open this summer, at Disneyland California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif. Starbucks will be located in the Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Café on Buena Vista Street, which is designed to transport patrons to 1920s Los Angeles. The store’s location plays off the Spanish/Mexican architecture of the period, and Starbucks baristas will wear 1920s-inspired attire.

Davenport, Iowa -- Von Maur Inc. will expand its women's specialty store concept, Dry Goods, with the opening of a 4,500-sq.-ft. location this fall at Orland Square Mall in Orland Park, Ill. The store will be the specialty store chain's third location in the Greater Chicagoland area and the seventh Dry Goods store overall.

The new Dry Goods will feature leading brands such as Free People, Hudson, Jessica Simpson, Joe's Jeans and Silver, among others. The store's decor will reflect the chain's vintage, turn-of-the-century aesthetic.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Donuts announced the signing of a multi-unit store development agreement with three franchise groups to develop 25 new restaurants in Texas over the next several years. The locations include 16 units in Houston and nine in San Antonio.

Dunkin' Donuts' development throughout Texas is part of the company's goal to double the number of Dunkin' restaurants in the United States over the next 20 years.

Burlington, N.J. -- Burlington Coat Factory will open a flagship in Manhattan this fall. It will be the off-price retailer’s sixth location in New York City. The 92,000-sq.-ft., three-level store will be in a building managed by Vornado Real Estate, on the south end of Union Square.

The Union Square flagship is part of a broader plan by Burlington to open more than 20 new stores in 2012.
 

New York -- Canada’s Jean Coutu Group has sold 56 million of its approximately 234.4 million shares in Rite Aid, the company said Friday.

The Canadian retailing group said the $83.6 million sale, which amounts to a 23.9%% reduction in the number of Rite Aid shares the company owns, would reduce its stake in Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid to 19.85%. The Jean Coutu group still owns about 178.4 million shares in the 4,667-store chain.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores confirmed that it is investigating its operations in Mexico for possible violations of the U.S. law that prohibits bribery overseas. The acknowledgement came in response to a lengthy article by The New York Times on Saturday that alleged the giant discounter first learned of allegations of "widespread bribery" by its workers in the country in 2005 and that top executives subsequently covered them up. 

Igloo Products Corp., named Terri Brooks VP strategic accounts as part of a larger sales reorganization and said she would be based in Bentonville.

Katy, Texas-based Igloo said the addition of Brooks to her newly created position and the addition of David D’Auteuil as VP new business development would accelerate the momentum the company has achieved from new product introductions and aggressive marketing.

For the third time in the past five months, Walmart chief merchandising and marketing officer Duncan Mac Naughton is representing Walmart at a major investor conference. Smart move considering expectations of further U.S. same-store sales acceleration has served as a catalyst for Walmart shares, which are trading near a 52-week high.