Games/ Contests/ Sweepstakes

Portland will be the proving ground this fall for a new mobile commerce initiative from Starbucks called Mobile Order and Pay that is part of the company’s broader effort to radically transform the retail experience.

The holidays will be a little more joyous this year for some of the 14.7 million U.S. children living in poverty. 

Philadelphia -- Off-price retailer Century 21 Department Store will open in Philadelphia on Oct. 28, 2014. Century 21 will serve as the anchor tenant of The Gallery, a shopping center undergoing a redevelopment.  

Amazon has sweetened the value proposition for its Prime members this holiday season by offering a 30 minute head start on select Lightning Deals on Amazon.com and daily sales events at MyHabit.com.

The early access deals feature is the latest enhancement to Amazon’s Prime membership which is best known for providing free two day shipping to members who pay a $99 annual fee. The feature brings elements of the competitive shopping behavior to Amazon by creating a sense of urgency to make purchases before the goods are gone.

The makers of Jimmy Dean products have launched Sunniest Day of the Year — a one-day campaign advertising the brand’s new lunch and dinner offerings. The Jimmy Dean brand Sun character is traveling across the US and documenting every step of his adventure on social media.

In addition to the robust digital content, the Sunniest Day of the Year also includes a national television advertising integration with a guest appearance by the Sun, the launch of a custom microsite (www.sunniestday.com) to track the cross-country journey and a national consumer sweepstakes.

Irving, Texas – The Michaels Companies Inc. is launching its annual “Trick Your Pumpkin” Instagram contest Saturday, Oct. 4. Every Friday Oct. 10 - 31, Michaels will award a $250 Michaels gift card and gift basket to a randomly selected customer who creates a pumpkin craft.

Michaels is looking to generate traffic to its stores for Halloween with its annual in-store Great Pumpkin Event and the launch of its "Trick Your Pumpkin" sweepstakes Saturday, Oct. 4.

Every Friday from Oct. 10-31, Michaels will award a $250 Michaels gift card and gift basket of Plaid products to a randomly selected customer who creates a pumpkin craft. To enter, customers must post a photo of their pumpkin on Instagram with #TrickYourPumpkin and #sweepstakes, or at www.michaels.com/trickyourpumpkin, beginning Oct. 4.

Groupon has unveiled a free app that pays people cash for buying featured grocery and consumer-packaged goods items each week at any supermarket or retailer in the United States and Canada called Snap.

Android and iPhone users can now earn money when they buy an item listed in the app and take a picture of their receipt. To mark Snap’s debut, people who download the app and use it to submit any grocery receipt through Nov. 11 can enter a sweepstakes to win a year of free groceries for an entire family, a value of $13,000.

As part of PepsiCo’s efforts to help drive the U.S. beverage container recycling rate to 50% by 2018, the company is now opening its K-12 school Recycle Rally program to schools across the country.

Spartanburg, S.C. - Denny’s and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios have partnered to create a new animated Web series, “The Grand Slams.” Starring a cast of characters, Egg, Pancake, Sausage and Bacon, based on the brand’s dish, The Grand Slam, the series launches an exclusive online trailer Oct. 1 and debuts its first episode Oct. 15.