Marketing Tactics

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club announced that Dale Talde, celebrity chef and owner of Talde and the soon-to-be opened Pork Slope Restaurant, both in New York, joins the Sam's Club Simply Delicious Chef Brigade to help families serve up healthy, restaurant-quality meals in their own backyard.

J.C. Penney Co.’s visual transformation has begun. The company has rolled out three shop concepts to nearly 700 stores nationwide. The shops, the first wave of many more to come, are dedicated to three brands: Levi’s, I Jeans by Buffalo, and The Original Jean Co. 

Click here to take a video tour of the new shops.
 

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Luxury appliance maker Jenn-Air has signed on as the exclusive major appliance sponsor of the second annual Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival.

This 2012 Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival will feature more than 50 events including wine seminars, unique dining experiences, and cooking demonstrations. The event will host more than 130 celebrated chefs and 200 acclaimed wineries, with proceeds raised benefiting St. Vincent Meals on Wheels.

JCPenney is not dead yet. New shops and free haircuts may help.

Retail pundits eager to write JCPenney’s obituary may want to wait until after the back-to-school season as the struggling retailer revealed several intriguing merchandising moves reminiscent of the tactics CEO Ron Johnson employed during his tenure running Apple stores. And in an unconventional buzz-building, traffic generating move the company said it would offer free haircuts to kids at its salons throughout August.

I’ll say this for Ron Johnson: He has turned staid J.C. Penney into the most talked-about retailer in the nation. The company accounted for five of the 10 most-viewed stories on this website in the first half of 2012 (see story). And industry analysts and consultants can’t stop speculating on the chain’s fortunes, in print, on the web and on television.

NEW YORK — Days of cutting back-to-school spending are over, as nearly 9-in-10 consumers plan to spend the same or more, according to Deloitte's annual back-to-school survey.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney on Aug. 1, will open in-store shop concepts for three brands—Levi's, i jeans by Buffalo and The Original Arizona Jean Co.—in nearly 700 stores nationwide. To coordinate with the back-to-school season, the retailer also is offering free haircuts for kids in its salons in the month of August.

NEW YORK — Macy's has partnered with fashion designer, B. Michael, for the launch of his new collection, b michael America Red. Set to debut in ten Macy's locations across the country by Aug. 15.

"I am excited by the opportunity to share my point of view of Advanced American Style with a broader audience. We are especially pleased to have Macy's as the retailer to launch the collection -- the quintessential american department store."