Events

The Houston suburb of Richmond is home to Sam’s Club’s 80th location in Texas following the opening of a new unit there on Thursday, Nov. 6.

Sam’s Club now operates 20 clubs in the sprawling Houston market and the 80 clubs the retailer operates in Texas account for more than 12% of the 643 Sam’s Clubs in operation nationwide as of September 30.

In an effort to handle the expected double-digit package volume growth this holiday season, the Postal Service on Thursday announced that it would be delivering packages seven days a week in major cities and high-volume areas beginning Nov. 17 through Christmas Day.

Walmart and Sam’s Club suppliers are in for a holiday treat of sorts when Sam’s Club hosts an upcoming meeting of the Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce.

For the first time ever, the chamber’s Walstreet Speaker Series will be held in the expansive auditorium at Sam’s Club home office in Bentonville, Ark., with Walmart’s EVP of merchandising operations Scott Huff serving as the guest speaker.

Richardson, Texas --Real estate development and investment firm KDC announced that Chef Kent Rathbun’s Jasper’s “Gourmet Backyard Cuisine” concept will join CityLine, the company’s 186-acre mixed-use project in Richardson, Texas. The restaurant is scheduled to open in summer 2015.

San Francisco -- Eight in ten Americans are likely to shop at local businesses during the upcoming holiday season, according to a 2014 nationwide Nielsen survey commissioned by Yelp. Nearly half (47%) plan to spend more than $100 at local businesses.  

Patrick Spear has joined GMDC as president to fill a role previously held by the organization’s long-time CEO Dave McConnell.  Spear brings 25-plus years of experience in the consumer and office products industry to GMDC’s senior management team.  

Last year, 37.3% of “Black Friday” consumers began shopping between 8 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Shopper traffic over the two-day Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday period at retail outlets totaled more than 1.07 billion store visits. Sales during the two-day period were $12.3 billion, and online sales grew an explosive 18.5%.

After seeing the financial benefits of opening earlier, more retailers are expected to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day to get a jump on their holiday sales.

Responding to the Ebola virus that has ravaged West Africa, RetailROI has launched a major campaign to help fight the disease in Liberia. Working with its partner charities operating in Liberia, including More Than Me and Love In Action, the #RetailFightsEbola campaign is rallying retailers, manufacturers and individuals to provide much-needed medical and hygienic supplies to Liberia.

RetailROI’s goals are two-fold:

Anyone planning to attend the NRF Convention Jan. 11-14, 2015, should consider arriving one day early to attend another event that is chock-full of information and industry expertise: SuperSaturday. Each year, RetailROI independently offers SuperSaturday, a one-day event held the Saturday before the official Sunday kickoff to the NRF Convention.

This year, SuperSaturday falls on Jan. 10. Held at the PwC Auditorium in Manhattan from 8 a.m.

Industry uses strengths to aid children in need

Modern retail is a global effort to provide consumers with the goods and services they need.