Retailer Campaigns

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.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Shoppers are planning to spend less money and purchase gifts for fewer people this holiday season compared to last year, while also maximizing their budgets through Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and online cost comparison, according to the CFI Group 2014 Holiday Retail Spending Report: Black Friday is Back.  

New Orleans - Smoothie King Franchises Inc. has signed a five-store development agreement for Missouri with new franchisee Jackie Floyd. The smoothie chain currently has 21 locations in the state, including more than a dozen in the St. Louis area, with three additional stores planned to open in the market in 2014.

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.

San Francisco - Only one-in-nine marketers use advanced cross-channel attribution methods, and among those using attribution, 28% still use single click methods. According to a new survey of 106 advertisers, agencies, and analytics professionals in the U.S. and Europe performed by Forrester Consulting for predictive marketing software provider Kenshoo, advanced marketers use sophisticated multi-touch attribution models to inform a broad array of strategic and tactical decisions in more detail and with more speed.

Matthews, N.C. – Family Dollar Stores Inc. launches its “Ad Match Promise” program on Sept. 30. When presented with a local competitor’s printed advertisement, Family Dollar stores will match the competitor’s price.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in Hawthorne, California, in Los Angeles County, on Oct. 11. The store is located in the Hawthorne Town Plaza.

This new opening is part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Alpharetta, Ga. - McAlister's Deli has signed an agreement with new franchise group MidSouth Hospitality Inc. to open 10 locations in Middle Tennessee. Led by McAlister's veteran Charles Corley, MidSouth Hospitality will be opening its first McAlister's in early 2015.

The newly formed company plans to open a total of 10 new restaurants during the next seven years.

Redmond, Wash. – Microsoft will open its first flagship location, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

In addition, Microsoft plans to open 10 new stores across the U.S. in time for the 2014 holiday season, while the flagship New York store is being built. Microsoft has not given a specific timeframe for when the flagship will open, but said it has been planning the store for five years. It will open in a spot currently occupied by luxury accessories brand Fendi, a few blocks south of an Apple store.