Events

Home Depot has plans for a major hurricane preparedness initiative this year, but the program doesn’t begin until nearly two months after residents of storm prone areas should already have plans in place.

Former Mexican president Felipe Calderón will be one of the key note speakers this fall when the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals gathers in Denver for the organization’s annual global conference.

New York -- David’s Bridal has entered into a partnership with American designer Zac Posen to launch 'Truly Zac Posen', a collection of bridal and other special occasion dresses. The collection will debut in February 2014 in select David’s Bridal stores and online.

New York -- Gilt, the popular online retailer of  discounted high-end designer apparel and accessories, will open its first-ever brick-and-mortar location, a pop-up store in Shelbyville Road Plaza, Louisville, Ky.    
 
“GLI welcomes the first Gilt.com Designer Outlet to the Louisville business community,” said Greater Louisville Inc. CEO and president Craig J. Richard in a press release issued by the online retailer. “The exciting new concept store is a unique addition to our local retail market.”

Chicago -- Eli’s Cheesecake, which sells cheesecakes and other baked goods from a retail store in Chicago as well as an e-commerce site, uses emerging social media tools to meet traditional marketing goals. At the recent Internet Retailer conference in Chicago, Debbie Marchok, VP of marketing for Eli’s Cheesecake, reviewed how the retailer meets the four traditional marketing goals of attention, interest, desire and action with social media.

NEW YORK — New York City's own Empire State Building is joining the 37th annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks festivities. The building will be the site of a choreographed LED tower lights show designed to mirror the explosive finale of the nation’s largest pyrotechnic display.

For anyone involved in retail, it feels like the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Spring Convention in Las Vegas signifies an important yearly milestone. Those of us in the industry can be forgiven for visualizing a “retail year” that begins immediately after the convention in May and runs until RECon opens its doors the following year.

Seattle -- Outdoor retailer REI announced Thursday it will open two new stores in the spring, one in Flagstaff, Ariz., and the other in Columbus, Ohio.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation reported Thursday that retail sales in May increased 0.6% seasonally adjusted from April and rose 4.8% unadjusted year-over-year.

The results, which excluded automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, were boosted by improved consumer confidence and spending.

Cincinnati -- Cobb Theatres’ CineBistro will co-anchor Cincinnati’s 1.1 million-sq.-ft. Liberty Center with Dillard's, according to center developers Steiner + Associates and Bucksbaum Retail Properties. The developers plan to announce a third anchor in coming weeks.

CineBistro was recently named as “one of eight theatres redefining the movie-going experience” by Entertainment Weekly.