Cross-Merchandising

Plano, Texas – The J.C. Penney Co. Inc. is launching a back-to-school marketing campaign that crosses multiple channels. The campaign will be supported by ads on TV, in Seventeen magazine, direct mail, preprints, broadcast and streaming video.

All marketing elements will be housed on a back-to-school hub at the Penney website, which includes a mix-and-match game that allows kids and teens to assemble different pieces to create their own style mash-up.

Gymboree is launching a colorful new campaign aimed at increasing awareness of a cause near and dear to the heart of its core customers.

The retailer has started a new effort to raise money in Gymboree and Gymboree Outlet stores to fund arts and crafts requests made by teachers on DonorsChoose.org. The goal is to fulfill classroom requests in every county where there is a Gymboree retail location.

West Sacramento, Calif. – Raley’s Supermarkets is considering hitting the big city. According to The Sacramento Bee, Raley’s is evaluating the launch of a smaller “farmer’s market” store format aimed at hip urban dwellers.

The format would focus on healthy and locally produced items. If Raley’s goes ahead with the concept, it could take up to two years to roll them out. Raley’s is considering opening two of the urban stores in downtown Sacramento.

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Ross Dress for Less and Ulta Beauty are coming to Randolph Mall in Asheboro, North Carolina. The two new stores will be situated in the former J.C. Penney location.  

Construction is expected to begin in October with the grand opening for both stores scheduled for 2016. Randolph Mall is a 400,000-sq.-ft. mall featuring more than 40 specialty stores and is anchored by Belk, Dunham’s Sports, and Sears.

Hangzhou, China - Alibaba Group is providing the Chinese arm of a major global CPG company direct access to the Chinese consumer market. Alibaba and Unilever China are launching a comprehensive strategic partnership focused on areas including rural China penetration, cross-border e-commerce, Big Data-driven advertising, and supply chain optimization.

This agreement builds on a partnership that started five years ago with a single Tmall store. Through this strategic partnership, Alibaba Group and Unilever China will work together to:

Skechers is teaming up with a U.S. toymaker to execute an omnichannel launch of a new line of dolls based on the retailer's most popular character.

The initial launch of the Twinkle Toes line includes four unique dolls that stand 6.5-inches in height dressed in colorful, fashion-forward outfits and light-up Skechers Twinkle Toes shoes that complement their bright personalities.

Mall of America is adding a big experiential retail destination.

Bloomington, Minn. -- Mall of America is adding a big experiential retail destination.

Crayola plans to open an interactive attraction that combines retail and entertainment in the nation’s largest shopping mall. The 60,000-sq.-ft. Crayola Experience is slated to open at the Bloomington, Minnesota, mega-mall in the summer of 2016. It will be the third location for the format, which recently opened in the Florida Mall, in Orlando, Florida. (The original Crayola Experience is in the company’s home town of Easton, Pennsylvania.)

It’s no secret that in order to create great customer experiences and maximize sales, it’s imperative to have a deep understanding of the motivations that drive your customers’ buying behaviors and preferences. This is true across the entire path to purchase — from advertising to point of sale and beyond. So far, this is “motherhood and apple pie” to any marketer.

It may be the middle of summer, but H&M executives have the busy Christmas shopping season on the brain: The retailer has already selected its holiday campaign spokeswoman.

Katy Perry announced on Instagram Thursday that she would appear in the retailer's 2015 holiday campaign.