Events

Sam’s Club opened three new locations this month including locations near Chicago, Fort Worth and Wichita, Kan., that pushed its club count to 630 units.

Walmart chief information officer Karenann Terrell will headline a first of its kind technology conference next month in Northwest Arkansas organized by the Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce.

Families this summer will spend slightly more on back-to-school items than they did in 2013. According to NRF’s 2014 Back-to-School Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average family with children in grades K-12 will spend $669.28 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics, up 5% from $634.78 in 2013.

Denham Springs, La. — Belk will open a 75,000-sq.-ft. store in Denham Springs, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, that will become the first department store anchor at the regional lifestyle center at Juban Crossing. The grand opening is slated for October 15.

The new, $7-million store will feature the latest retail design and décor for the Charlotte, North Carolina chain.

New York -- J.C. Penney has teamed up with NBC’s “Today Show” to display five mannequins created in the image of real Americans in the windows of its store in Manhattan. The mannequins, which include a model of woman in a wheelchair and a male double-leg amputee, were made by Fusion Specialties, Broomfield, Colorado.

Beachwood, Ohio - DDR Corp. will hold the grand opening of Seabrook Commons, the company’s most recent ground-up development project located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, on Aug. 12. This 380,000-sq.-ft. prime power center is 96% leased, anchored by Wal-Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods, PetSmart, Michaels, Ulta, Famous Footwear and Five Below, and features a complementary restaurant lineup that includes Panera, Outback Steakhouse and Noodles & Company.

Phillipsburg, N.J. -- National Realty & Development Corp. announced that Hobby Lobby has opened its 56,000-sq.-ft. store at Pohatcong Plaza in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Pohatcong Plaza is a 562,000-sq.-ft. power center located at the intersection of Route 22 and Greenwich Road, 1/2 of a mile northwest of Interstate-78 off of Exit 3.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. is running month-long omnichannel “Get Pop-Cultured” pop culture promotion during July. The effort promotes books, characters, movies, artists, illustrators and pop culture icons with themed events, author signings, panel discussions, contests, exclusive content, giveaways and prizes, sneak peeks and activities.

Home furnishings retailer West Elm plans to open a new retail store in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, July 24, at 10 a.m. — its first in the state.

Americans have never had greater access to amazing consumer electronics products thanks to eye-popping innovation that is translating to uneven growth and interesting implications for the holiday season, according to the latest sales projections from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).