Marketing Tactics

Duluth, Minn. -- Maurices, a subsidiary of the Ascena Retail Group, announced that Ali Wing has been named chief marketing officer, executive VP of digital commerce. Wing joins Maurices after 10 years as CEO and founder of giggle, a multichannel retailer, wholesaler and licenser of baby products.

Rakuten has confirmed that it is in the process of acquiring Ebates, a provider of the largest cash-back shopping website in North America, for a total consideration of $1 billion in cash and will hold 100% of Ebates’ outstanding voting stock.

Merrimack, N.H. – Brookstone has named Blue Wolf Communications as an agency for public relations, social media and event marketing.

The relationship launches with major initiatives for the 2014 holiday season, the announcement of high-profile spokespeople, the introduction of many new products, and high-impact events for fall and winter.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in August 2013 versus August 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Back-to-school season was in full swing, yet the drug retailers took opposite approaches to their promotions. Walgreens featured multiple BTS promotions on each of its front pages both this year and last. On the other hand, CVS’s front pages did not feature any traditional school/office supplies, instead focusing on the cosmetics category in three of its four August 2014 circulars.

Las Vegas - Cricket Wireless and GameStop Corp. are launching a new strategic retail relationship that will offer Cricket Wireless' no-annual contract service in more than 2,800 GameStop U.S. store locations. Starting in October after a successful trial in select markets, GameStop will begin selling Cricket Wireless no-annual contract service and smartphone devices and accessories.  

Ottawa, Canada - The retailers who “won” during the holiday season in 2013 were those that offered meaningful discounts on a sizable number of products on Black Friday instead of discounting a small number of door crashers. According to analysis from 360pi and Retail Systems Research, poor financial performance followed those retailers who discounted during the week leading into Black Friday, and those who kept discounts in place following Cyber Monday generally fared better than those who raised prices.

CVS Health has completed the purchase of Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy.

The acquisition includes Navarro's 33 retail locations and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases. The retail pharmacies will retain the Navarro Discount Pharmacy name.

The increasingly competitive yoga apparel category just got a little more crowded. Sports Authority has launched an exclusive yoga line called Bloom, which it says it created specifically for women who enjoy being connected to the outdoors.