Digital Marketing

New York City -- Chain Store Age is conducting a brief survey designed to take retailers' "new" media temperature. Together with shopping center owner Forest City Enterprises and research firm Alexander Babbage, Chain Store Age is surveying our retail readership to find out what retailers nationwide are doing in terms of social, mobile and other digital media initiatives.

NEW YORK — Kmart has teamed up with Alloy Media + Marketing for a second Web series promoting Kmart for back-to-school. The Web series, "First Day 2: First Dance (www.facebook.com/FDtheseries and www.kmart.com/firstdance) is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 9 and is the sequal to the company's original Web series, "First Day."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Family Dollar opened its 7,000th store Thursday, further cementing the dollar-store channel as an area of rapid growth.

The store is located in Memphis, Tenn., and features a green building design and a spacious layout for an optimal shopping experience, the company reported. 

To commemorate the opening of its 7,000th store in Memphis, Family Dollar completed the celebration with the $7,000 donation to the Mid-South Food Bank, along with cans of food donated by members of the local community. 

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Parents will spend more on apparel for this school year versus last year, a new survey from Sears and BlogHer, a network of women social media leaders, revealed. 

Walmart pulled out of Korea a few years ago and may not be paying much attention to the market, but there are some interesting things happening there. For example, Tesco has developed an interesting shopper marketing solution that appeals to time-starved Korean commuters. The strategy could be applied to other urban areas where hordes of smart phone wielding commuters have embraced QR codes and ride well maintained mass transit systems. Even though those requirements rule out most U.S.

Austin, Texas -- DMX said Thursday it has extended its partnership with 77kids by american eagle.

New York City -- When it comes to coupons, consumers still rely on the Sunday newspaper. According to consumer and media measurement firm Scarborough Research, coupon usage for household items is up 24% since 2006, with Sunday newspaper inserts ranking as the leading (49%) source for coupons, followed by in-store coupons (43%), direct mailings (33%), in-store circulars (26%), and preferred customer/loyalty card (24). And some one-fifth (22%) of consumers are utilizing digital media such as email, text messaging or Internet sites to get their household coupons,

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings continues its efforts to reach more Hispanic consumers with the announcement that its Kmart brand has launched a Spanish-language miniseries on YouTube.

NEW YORK — Macy’s chairman, president and CEO is walking on air these days as the nation’s leading department store chain continues to deliver impressive results amid a recessionary economy that has other operators floundering for sales.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — HSN announced that it has launched a new campaign inviting customers to determine what products are featured in its new specialty More to Like" online store, found at HSN.com/like. Products are determined based on "likes" on the HSN.com, HSN Mobile or HSN's Facebook page.