Events

Seeking to boost back-to-school sales, 24 GGP malls will host Teen Vogue’s Back-to-School Saturday™ on Aug. 10.

For the second year in a row, Teen Vogue magazine has declared a national shopping holiday for Back-To-School.

This year, 100 malls and numerous national retailers — H&M, Topshop and American Eagle, for instance —have decided to see what the marketing concept can do for them.

Retailers will offer back-to-school deals and discounts, and the malls will host events.

Los Angeles -- Candy emporium Sweet! Hollywood has opened its flagship location at the Hollywood & Highland Center, in Hollywood, Calif.

The store is designed as a one-of-a-kind retail entertainment experience by envisioning the proverbial kid in a candy store and bringing that vision to life.

Los Angeles — Westfield, an Australian-based company that operates 47 U.S. malls, is leveraging mobile technology and social media to promote its back-to-school campaign. 

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid is launching a loyalty program for consumers 65 and up. The new program is the latest extension of the chain’s customer loyalty program wellness+.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid, the third-largest drug chain in the nation, is pursuing the lucrative senior market with its latest marketing campaign centered on its new extension to the Wellness+ loyalty card program.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s is continuing its partnerships with the American Cancer Society and the Southeast Wisconsin affiliate of Susan G. Komen. To that end, the retailer and its philanthropic platform, Kohl’s Cares, have donated $1.7 million to support and expand education and patient-assistance programs.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot is offering college students a variety of online back-to-school shopping services through a dedicated page on its e-commerce site. Features include an online catalog geared toward college students and an online college checklist, as well as a partnership with connected learning platform Chegg.

Through the Chegg partnership, Office Depot will run a contest called the “Countdown to College Giveaway” with prizes including technology devices and school supplies, and co-authored online tips and articles.

Warren, Mich. — Michigan-based Art Van Furniture opened its first out-of-state retail store in Orland Park, Ill., last week with a Motown-themed grand opening celebration.

The new 47,000-sq.-ft. location heralds the opening of five more Art Van stores in the Chicago region in coming months. Locations include Ford City-Chicago, Batavia, Elston Avenue-Chicago and Merrillville-Hobart, Indiana. The new stores will add 600 new jobs to the region.

San Francisco – On July 19, online transportation service provider Uber is offering a one-day promotion where mobile customers could use the Uber app to order on-demand ice cream from an ice cream truck.

App users in 33 global cities, including 22 in the U.S. and Canada, have a one-day “order ice cream” option on their app. If one of several ice cream trucks deployed in each city is available, customers can order a bundle of five to six ice cream treats with payment directly charged to their Uber account.

New York – U.S. consumers spent more last month as real home prices and initial unemployment claims continued to improve. The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index for June 2013, which comprises four components of tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices, increased to 4.3 from a reading of 4.2 the previous month.   
Following is a summary of the four main components of the Index:

Tax Burden: The tax rate is up from last year, and is now at 12%.