Co-Marketing

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that it has donated $15,000 in monetary support and product to assist with Minot, N.D. flooding relief efforts. The company said its donation will help four Minot schools, including Long Fellow, Perkett, Eric Ramstad and Lincoln. Each school will receive $3,000 to support classroom relocation efforts due to flood damage.                             .

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Kathy Ireland has put her name on a new line of office furniture for Bush Furniture. The Kathy Ireland Office line will be available in retail stores as early as this fall.

Each of the four collections in the line - New York Skyline, Volcano Dusk, Sonnet and Grand Expressions – includes coordinated home office furnishings and storage accessories, creating a complete work-and-play environment for people in business and their families. 

Here’s a good idea for retailers looking to bring a sense of newness and a treasure hunt atmosphere to stores. Sign exclusive agreements with known and emerging designers or upscale brands during limited duration merchandising events as a means to achieve differentiation. Sound familiar?

Target pursued this concept more than a decade ago with general merchandise and earlier this year observed the 5th anniversary of the Go International designer program with a collection of products from past designers.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax announced that it will offer customers support education by carrying an extensive selection of Boise brand paper products with the Box Tops for Education seal on the package. OfficeMax retail stores and OfficeMax retail partners are currently the only office super stores to carry Boise's Box Tops for Education products, the company reported.

NEW YORK — Gilt Groupe, an online retailer that specializes in selling sought-after brands at discounted prices to its 3.5 million members, has partnered with Banana Republic to offer its members exclusive access to select pieces from the retailer's upcoming "Mad Men" collection.

NEW YORK — Macy’s announced that its Karl Lagerfeld capsule collection will arrive in about 235 Macy's stores and on Macys.com beginning Aug. 31.

“To me Macy’s is the perfect department store in the United States where everybody can find what they're looking for without ruining their budget,” said Karl Lagerfeld. “That’s why I am happy to make this limited collection just for Macy’s.”

A new infant through tween apparel line from Gwen Stefani called Harajuku Mini for Target is slated to hits stores this fall, according to various media reports of an interview the singer did with Women’s Wear Daily. Prices are expected to range from $3.99 to $39.99.

Stefani already has an adult line of clothes called Harajuku, so it’s not like Target is taking a flyer on a completely unknown commodity.

NEW YORK — The Jones Group announced that it has entered into an exclusive, world-wide license agreement with Philip Simon Brands Group for the creation, production, marketing and global distribution of a fashion sneaker collection under the Nine West brand.