Events

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Plug and Play Tech Center is launching its first Retail and Brand Meetup on Wednesday, Oct.  22, starting at 5:30 pm PDT. The free event will feature a panel of marketing experts discussing the future of marketing and the importance of brands and retailers staying in touch with the customer at all touchpoint during a consumers path to purchase.    

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. plans to hire more than 63,000 seasonal associates—more than Walmart—at its stores, call centers and distribution centers nationwide for the 2014 holiday season. (Walmart previously announced it was hiring 60,000 seasonal associates.)  

New York -- Last week, SAP hosted its annual Retail Forum in the palatial confines of the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. Within the elegant surroundings a lot of very practical and down-to-earth information about the latest retail IT trends was dispersed. Here are three tech trends retailers should pay extra close attention to.   Predictive Analytics  

Seattle -- Nordstrom on Friday opened the doors to its first store in Northeast Florida, at St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville. "We're thrilled to open our first full-line store at such an outstanding mall as St. Johns Town Center," said Brandy Jefferson, Nordstrom St. Johns Town Center store manager.   

Washington, D.C. - Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to see a final surge and set a new monthly record in October as the holiday season approaches. According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, import volume at U.S. ports covered by the Global Port Tracker report is expected to total 1.53 million containers in October, topping the 1.52 million monthly record set in August.   

Giant Eagle celebrated the grand opening of its newest Market District in Strongsville, Ohio. The Strongsville Market District will be the first Market District location serving the west side of Cleveland.

The 107,000-sq.-ft. Market District is open 24 hours a day, and will offer restaurant-quality dishes, as well as unique meat, produce, cheese and grocery selections from around the globe.
 

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to see a final surge and set a new monthly record in October as the holiday season approaches, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released late this week by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.