Events

Empire Outlets enlists top fashion artist
Empire Outlets, the outlet center taking shape on the Staten Island side of the Staten Island Ferry, has turned to Manhattan and Holly Nichols to help promote the center. Nichols’s illustrations have guided campaigns for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman-Marcus, not to mention New York and Boston Fashion Weeks. Her work has 600,000 followers on Instagram, and originals sell to collectors on Etsy.
Job-seekers out in full force for online giant's multi-state job fair
Thousands nationwide turned out Wednesday for the chance to join Amazon’s growing workforce. The online giant hosted a multi-state job fair on Aug. 2, focused on hiring full-time and part-time associates for positions across nearly a dozen of its U.S.-based warehouses. The event had such a massive turnout that Amazon said it received "a record-breaking 20,000 applications,” according to CNBC. This is almost half of the 50,000 roles the company says it has available across its fulfillment network.

Target retail tech accelerator alum makes good

One of the retail tech start-ups from the inaugural class of the Target + Techstars retail accelerator program is expanding.
Chain Store Age announces SPECS/2018 Advisory Board, new marketing

Chain Store Age announced the selection of the Advisory Board for SPECS/2018, the annual retail event produced by CSA and attended by retail and food-service executives who plan, design, build, and maintain stores and restaurants nationwide. Now in its 54th year, SPECS will host its 2018 conference in Dallas, at the Gaylord Texan, March 18-20. The event will focus on what’s next, and what is shaping the future of physical retail.
Saks to honor 80-year-old film icon (and her seven pals) for the holidays

Saks Fifth Avenue is partnering with Disney to celebrate the holidays. Saks' annual holiday window display at its New York City flagship on Fifth Avenue will be devoted to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The collaboration with Disney also includes special Disney-inspired fashion, accessories and giftable items created by premier designers and available across Saks' 41 stores in the U.S. and Canada, and Saks.com.
Special Report: More Climbers & Fallers
Holiday Uptime: Preparing Your Network for the Holiday Rush
GameStop does an about-face on Thanksgiving

It's only July, but GameStop has jumped into the ongoing debate about whether stores should be open on Thanksgiving Day. After keeping its stores closed on Thanksgiving for the past three years, the retailer has told its employees that stores will be open for this year's holiday. The change was first reported by gaming website Kotaku.
Evoco white paper
Hangout On Air: Going Google, from a CIO’s perspective
Top 10 Retail Center Experiences

The Electric Daisy Carnival drew 130,000 young people to Las Vegas on its final day last year. This summer, Billy Joel will sell out his 43rd concert at Madison Square Garden, where floor tickets sell in the $200 range. No matter the age or inclination, people still want to leave the house and be with other people. They just need a really good reason to do so. Here are 10 retail centers that have some of the best reasons:
Border tariff removed from tax reform plan

The import tax proposal has officially been removed from the tax reform plan — which is welcome news for retailers across the industry. On Thursday, congressional and administration leaders announced they would remove the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT) from consideration, and announced an outline for comprehensive tax reform. The BAT provision would have ended importers’ ability to deduct the cost of merchandise purchased from other countries.