Events

The ANNpower Vital Voices Initiative is a partnership between Ann Inc., parent company of Ann Taylor and Loft, and Vital Voices Global Partnership to empower young women from across the U.S. with the leadership skills they need to affect global progress, invest in their communities and begin their journeys as the next generation of leaders.  

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) was recognized on Earth Day, April 22, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its 2014 SmartWay Affiliate Challenge award. The EPA recognized NRF for supporting policies and practices that reduce truck emissions and enhance freight efficiency.

The SmartWay Affiliate Challenge is a national challenge developed by the EPA to acknowledge organizations that do an exceptional job supporting the partnership’s freight sustainability goals.

It may not rival the FIFA World Cup, but there’s nothing bigger than the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup when it comes to international youth soccer tournaments in the United States.

Now in its 35th year, the recently concluded youth tournament crowned winning teams from throughout the world who competed in eight age classifications. Other big winners at the event were eight U.S.-based community organizations who each received donations of $5,000 in sports gear on behalf of the winning teams.

Washington, D.C. — Simon Property Group and NRG eVgo (ee-vee-go), a subsidiary of NRG Energy will host an amped-up Earth Day Electric Car Caravan to unveil three new electric car fast-charging Freedom Station sites at St. Charles Towne Center, Bowie Town Center and Queenstown Premium Outlets in Maryland. The caravan will attend ribbon-cutting ceremonies at each center on April 22.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market claimed the honor for best brand on Pinterest at the Shorty (the Shorties) Awards on April 7. The Shorties are an annual awards event that honors the best short-form content creators on Twitter and on other social media sites.

Whole Foods Market joined Pinterest in 2011, and currently has 180,000 followers.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced plans to relocate its full-line Westfield University Towne Center (UTC) department store in San Diego to a new space within the evolving mall.

The new two-level, 145,000-sq.-ft. Nordstrom store will open in 2017 as part of Westfield UTC’s resort-inspired redevelopment, which is adding specialty shops, restaurants, entertainment, sustainable design features and family-friendly amenities, as well as structured parking.

Bay Shore, N.Y. -- Clarins Fragrance Group has deployed a 6-ft.-high digital projection in three store locations in the United Kingdom to help celebrate the launch of designer’ Thierry Mugler’s new Alien Extraordinaire perfume. The projection, the “Virtual Assistant” from Tensator, features the image of the goddess character used across all launch-branding material.

The National Retail Federation today told a congressional panel that the retail industry is committed to safeguarding and protecting consumer data and information from highly motivated and sophisticated cybercriminals and hackers.

“Retailers make significant investments every year in order to protect [consumer] data,” NRF VP for retail technologies Tom Litchford testified. “Collectively, retailers spend billions of dollars annually to safeguard data and fight fraud, as well as hundreds of millions annually on [credit card security] compliance.”