Displays & Signs

Local cues and digital influences on the rise

Signage continues to gain importance in overall branding efforts, as retailers seek to differentiate themselves with signs tailored to local markets and to create department ambiance. And increasingly, there is a lot more participation by marketing and advertising departments in developing signage programs.

“It is not just the construction or store planning departments anymore,” said Tony Camilletti, executive VP, D/Fab, Madison Heights, Mich.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. is set to launch Disney branded shops inside 565 Penney stores on Oct.4. The shops will offer toys, collectibles and children's apparel designed for Penney and showcasing various Disney characters, including those from Toy Story and Monsters University and Disney Junior shows.

Home furnishings retailer West Elm is opening a retail store in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Oct. 10 — it’s first ever location in the state.

The nearly 8,000-sq.ft. store located in the Summit Birmingham shopping center will feature the brand’s mix of furniture, home décor, gifts and artist collaborations. The store will also feature an assortment of local handcrafted products sourced through Etsy.com, including one-of-a-kind furniture, lighting, leather goods and wall art.

Los Altos, Calif. -- Catalog Spree, the personal digital mall that lets consumers browse and shop their favorite brands, has teamed with Google to distribute interactive retail catalogs and lookbooks on the web through Lightbox Ads. These targeted ads will feature Catalog Spree's full-page catalogs and lookbooks, and will be distributed on the Google Display Network, which reaches more than 100 million American consumers.

New York -- Artisanal Brands, a marketer and distributor of specialty, artisanal and farmstead cheeses and other specialty food products, has signed a long-term lease on a new Artisanal Cheese Center in New York City with cheese aging caves, production and office facilities, as well as the first retail outlet to be owned and managed by the company.  
   

Mars Chocolate North America has unveiled a new line of candies in several flavors just in time for Halloween.

The candy maker announced the release of its latest line, which includes Snickers peanut butter pumpkin-based singles, as well as jack-o-lantern-shaped Snickers-brand pumpkin, available in two packs. The company is also releasing a new large variety bag of Snickers Fun Size canned, available in Snickers Original, Almond and Peanut Butter Squared bars.

Rugged boot manufacturer Wolverine has opened a permanent store in New York's Nolita at 254 Elizabeth St. The company decided to give the retail space a try following its successful New York pop-up venture in fall 2012.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th plans to open a second store in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 3. On the same date, the retailer plans to open its newly relocated store at Potomac Mills in Woodridge, Va.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in September 2012 versus September 2013 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Home Depot continued to cut circular pages, down 80% year-over-year to only four for September. Despite this, it has continued to dramatically increase the density of its circular, with a 180% increase in ad blocks per page. On the other hand, Lowe’s saw only minor year-over-year changes, with 25% increases in ad blocks per page and per circular.

Chicago – Monetate is releasing two new products that will bring its big data marketing acceleration technology to retention and acquisition channels. The addition of Monetate Email and Monetate Display expands the Monetate Acceleration Cloud.