Marketing Tactics

Restaurant operator Johnny Rockers is celebrating its 30th anniversary year — and reaching out to millennials — by giving itself a brand refresh.

The chain is best known for its 1950s diner look, complete with jukeboxes filled with oldies songs and dancing servers dressed in nostalgic soda-jerk uniforms. But it’s rolling out a new prototype that includes a much more modern-looking exterior and interior, a new logo, a more contemporary music soundtrack, and new uniforms for associates. Also on the bill: a self-serve ordering kiosk for to-go orders.

In a first, Tiffany & Co. will sell its jewelry online, on a site other than its own.

Tiffany has entered into a limited collaboration with online retailer Net-A-Porter to make select Tiffany items available for purchase on the global fashion site.

“With their recognized edit and fashion authority, Net-A-Porter will re-introduce Tiffany as more than the legendary jeweler, but an expression of personal style,” said Philippe Galtie, senior vice president of international sales at Tiffany & Co.

Amazon comes out on top — way on top — as the top shopping web site for teens.

That’s according to Piper Jaffray Companies’ 31st semi-annual “Taking Stock With Teens” research survey, which highlights spending trends and brand preferences amongst 6,500 U.S. teens across 46 U.S. states.

Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz recently touched down at Target Corp. headquarters in Minneapolis as part of Target’s series of “innovation speakers.” “With Starbucks, I dreamed of building a national brand and different kind of company, achieving balance between profit and conscience, bringing people along on the journey, and impacting the communities we serve,” Schultz said. “The kind of company my parents never got the chance to work for.

Promotions, markdowns and supply chain issues took a toll on Pier in the fourth quarter as the retailer lower profits on declining sales. But the results were better than earlier projections and executives expressed confidence in the chain’s turnaround efforts.

Pier 1’s sales declined 1.4% to $542.3 million in the quarter ended Feb. 27; same store sales fell 0.6%. Net income was $18.7 million, down from $33.1 million in the year-ago period.

Senior executives from Tuesday Morning, Bridgestone and PetSmart are among those headlining a retail conference organized by the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.

A shakeup in the executive ranks is reportedly occurring at Kohl’s.

According to AdAge, Will Setliff, executive VP of marketing at the department store chain, is resigning his position the week of April 11. There has been no press release from Kohl’s or Setliff and surprisingly little coverage of his career shift outside of AdAge.

Simon Property Group is adding an unconventional experiential component to its Opry Mills mall in Nashville that should add even more traffic to the already popular shopping and entertainment destination.