Events

In-stock insights on tap from top Walmart exec
Walmart Vice President of Supply Chain Services Debbie Hodges is the featured speaker at the April gathering of Doing Business in Bentonville.

The organization recently confirmed that Hodges would be the featured speaker at an event to be held Thursday April 16 at 7 a.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton in Bentonville.

Among the topics Hodges plans to address are the role and structure of the Supply Chain Services team, key initiatives currently underway and the impact on suppliers.
Books-A-Million celebrates customers in April
Books-A-Million is trying to increase brand loyalty with two new omnichannel marketing campaigns celebrating customers.

During the month of April, the retailer will host Customer Appreciation Month. The campaign kicks off with Educator Week on April 4 and wraps up with Geek Week, which will offer Stars Wars events and comic book giveaways.

Bloomingdale’s to open in new center in Norwalk, Conn., in 2018

Cincinnati -- Macy’s announced that Bloomingdale’s plans to open a 150,000-sq.-ft., three-level location in fall 2018 in an all-new shopping, dining and entertainment center being developed in Norwalk, Connecticut, by General Growth Properties.

“This spectacular new shopping center will be a distinctive and upscale destination for Fairfield County and surrounding areas, prominently positioned at I-95 and Highway 7,” said Tony Spring, chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s.
Torrid opening Chicago flagship; on track to open 60 stores in 2015

Chicago -- Torrid, the edgy plus-sized apparel division of Hot Topic, will open a flagship on State Street in Chicago, on April 8. It’s part of 60 stores the retailer is planning to open across the country this year.

The 3,000-sq.-ft. store, located in The Loop, Chicago's historic shopping district, will be Torrid's tenth store in the Windy City.
SKY2BUY is the new mall in the sky

Airline passengers mourning the loss of in-flight catalog SkyMall may soon find a familiar sight in their seat pockets.

Scott Jordan, CEO and founder of multi-pocket travel clothing company SCOTTeVEST, intends to fill the vacuum created by SkyMall's loss with a new in-flight shopping experience: SKY2BUY. It will be in planes in test markets around the United States in June or July of this year.

"This summer, fly with SKY2BUY, your new mall in the sky," Jordan said.
Study: Costco, Amazon tops in customer loyalty

Costco, Amazon.com and Apple rank highest in customer loyalty, according to this year’s Net Promoter Consumer Study.

The study ranks more than 220 brands, such as Costco, Amazon.com, Apple and more across 22 U.S. industry sectors, including financial services, insurance, technology, online entertainment, retail stores, electronics, travel and hospitality, and telecommunications.
REI joins national parks campaign

REI is looking to increase sales to its stores by joining the National Park Service on a campaign to lure more visitors to America's national parks.

In its role as "Official Outdoor Retailer" of the National Park Centennial celebration, the co-op aims to inspire, guide and outfit people with a passion to explore these national treasures more deeply.
Retail Loco @ SXSW: Retailers Talk Location Solutions

By Anne Marie Stephen

Brands, retailers and technologists convened at Retail Loco at South by Southwest Interactive, Sunday, March 15, 2015 hosted by Location Based Marketing Association. The event focused on how companies are leveraging location solutions and data for better business. The LBMA is a global not-for-profit association with over 1,000 member companies including media, retail, brands, agencies and technology companies.
Tech Bytes: Three Lessons from Oracle Industry Connect

Last week, Oracle hosted its second annual Oracle Industry Connect conference in Washington, D.C. This seat of world power was an appropriate setting for a two-day summit explaining how retailers can use technology to obtain better control of every aspect of their enterprises.

Here are three key lessons attendees gleaned from Oracle Industry Connect:

Customers are the Best Salespeople
ARTS adds to standard RFP library

Washington, D.C. - The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has announced two major additions to the ARTS Standard Request for Proposals (RFP) library on selecting payments solutions and video analytics solutions. These standardized RFPs will help retail companies research software applications ahead of time.
Taubman’s Mall of San Juan opens in Puerto Rico

San Juan -- The Mall of San Juan, the first upscale shopping center in Puerto Rico, officially opened its doors on March 26. The 650,000-sq.-ft. shopping center, developed through a partnership between Taubman and New Century Development, has a retail line-up includes the Caribbean's only Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Sixty percent of the tenants are unique to the market.
Report: More and more retailers transitioning to single order management system

Boston – During the next three years, 250% more retailers are transitioning to a single order management solution (OMS) to support a unified commerce experience across all channels, according to a new special report by Boston Retail Partners. The study, “Order Management is the New POS,” explains how many retailers are planning to adopt a single order management system and the numerous benefits it presents to improve operations and enhance the customer experience.