Events

New York -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm has launched a wedding and gift registry that allows shoppers to register in stores, online or via smartphone app.

“Our customers have great individual style and definitely know how to party,” said Vanessa Holden, creative director of West Elm. “Our new wedding and gift registry features tips and tricks from some of our favorite partners, and it's the perfect tool to help couples design a home to suit their new life together or plan for any type of celebration.”

Petco and the San Diego Padres are opening the gates of Petco Park to man's best friend during their annual "Dog Days of Summer" event July 29, and throwing the first pitch will be Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy, alongside his famous Sochi pooch.

Kenworthy gained notoriety not only on the slopes in the 2014 Winter Olympics, but off as well, as he made it his mission to save the stray dogs of Sochi and find them loving homes.

Five Below plans to open eight locations in and around Houston Friday, June 6, marking the specialty value retailer’s first foray into that city. The company already has 15 stores in the Dallas and Austin markets.

The store openings are part of the company’s aggressive growth strategy. Last year, the Philadelphia-based retailer opened 60 new stores, and it plans to match that number this year. With the Houston openings, there will be 338 Five Below stores in 20 states throughout the country.

Middleton, Wis. -- American Girl, a division of Mattel, announced plans to open its newest store at Scottsdale Quarter, an open-air lifestyle center owned by Glimcher Realty Trust and located in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The 12,000-sq.-ft. store is slated to open in late summer of 2015 and will be located within a new 180,000-sq.-ft. expansion of the property.

WTI expects June 2014 to trend similar to last year and above normal for the U.S. as a whole. Cooler and more normal temperatures can be expected from the Western Plains to the Rocky Mountain states. Temperatures will be cooler than last year along the West Coast, but still above normal with slightly weaker demand for summer categories. In the Northeast, temperatures will trend similar to last year while precipitation trends drier than a very wet June 2013, which will benefit store traffic and increase demand for outdoor categories.

New York -- Mars International Travel Retail (MITR) has opened the first M&M's store in France, in Terminal 2A at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Senior editor Katherine Boccaccio and editor-in-chief Marianne Wilson sat down with retail real estate leaders and analysts in Las Vegas at RECon 2014.  See what each industry expert had to say about the retail landscape, trends in the industry, and projects to keep an eye on.

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Sponsored by the National Confectioners Association, the 2014 Sweets & Snacks Expo hosted a sold out show at Chicago’s McCormick Place to an audience of more than 16,000 qualified industry professionals. The Expo, held May 20–22, is being touted as the confectionery and snack industry’s most successful, world-class event.