Packaging

The chief marketing officer of J.C. Penney is leaving the company after two years on the job.   Mary Beth West is leaving the department store retailer on March 31 to become senior VP and chief growth officer of the Hershey Co. She will join Hershey on May 1.   West joined Penney in April 2015 after serving on the company’s board of directors for 10 years.   

Thanks to a new partnership, shoppers once again can purchase Eva Longoria-designed apparel.  

There’s a new sneaker on the scene that promises to make a slam dunk — albeit not on the basketball court.    Called “Pie Tops,” Pizza Hut’s new white-and-red trimmed kicks are more than a functional sneaker. Featuring geolocation technology that links to an app (separate from the chain’s mobile app), users can order a large two-topping pizza just by pressing a button embedded in the shoe’s tongue, according to Pizza Hut’s new 30-second commercial featuring retired NBA player, Grant Hill.

While RH continued to make investments to transform its business model, these efforts impacted the company’s preliminary fourth quarter earnings.   The furniture and housewares company, which officially changed its name from Restoration Hardware to RH last month, posted net income of $8.75 million, or 21 cents per share, for the quarter ended January 28, 2017. This was a drop from $33.3 million in fourth quarter 2015. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 68 cents per share, beating analyst estimates of 65 cents per share.

HSN’s feature, “The Beauty Spy,” uses social media to introduce shoppers in the United States to new, emerging and exotic beauty trends. Now it is coming to the small screen.   The program, which can be seen on HSN’s social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat, will become a monthly program appearing exclusively on HSN — a move that will deliver a multi-platform experience to viewers.  

Web searches are often inconsistent due to irrelevant keywords and content, making it more important than ever for brands to use more retail-specific factors to stay relevant.    Details that can improve brands’ visibility in Google searches are shared in the “E-commerce Ranking Factors 2017 — Ten Things eCommerce Sites Need to Know to Rank on Google,” a report from Searchmetrics that analyzed the top 20 desktop search results on Google for over 6,000 industry-specific keywords.   

The wedding industry’s newest gift registry is being launched by an unlikely company — Domino’s Pizza.   The service, which is called the first registry “for couples that prefer delicious melty cheese to crystal gravy boats,” according to Domino’s website, targets couples unsure about what to serve at pre-, during or post-wedding festivities.  

On the heels of disappointing financial results, Tiffany & Co. said that Frederic Cumenal has stepped down as CEO, effective immediately.    Cumenal, who had run the company since April 2015, is being succeeded on an interim basis by chairman and former CEO Michael Kowalski, while the company searches for a permanent replacement.