Events

Big Lots celebrates families and mothers in particular through its national holiday television and online campaign launched on Nov. 1.

The campaign features four original songs - one in Spanish - which are intended to inspire sing-alongs.  The spots feature a singing trio that includes "America's Got Talent" finalist Deanna DellaCioppa, a Boston native who has performed with Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. 

In this campaign, Big Lots emphasizes a special role mothers play in celebrating the holidays. 

Los Angeles -- Lifestyle brand Paul Frank is launching a pop-up shop at the Paramount Hotel in New York City, now through Jan. 30, 2015, with omnichannel features. Customers can participate in two digital activations featuring the face of Paul Frank, Julius the monkey.

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.

The National Retail Federation has made a major change to the format and content of its annual trade show and convention, known as the Big Show, which is held every January in New York.

Plano, Texas -- The J.C. Penney Co. Inc. will open stores and begin its Black Friday sale activities at 5 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving Day. The company announced its plans via a tweet on the official JCPenney news account.   This start time is an hour earlier than the 6 p.m. Thanksgiving opening time of competing department stores Macy’s and Sears, and three hours earlier than the 8 p.m. opening time Penney used for Thanksgiving 2013.   

Industry uses strengths to aid children in need

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

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.

Englewood, Colo. -- Sports Authority will host grand opening events for its new and improved stores in the Las Vegas area on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 8 a.m.