Retailer Campaigns

Sequential Brands Group has selected actress Paula Patton as the new face and brand ambassador for Ellen Tracy.

Patton's role as brand ambassador begins this November when she will spearhead a global initiative to commemorate women's contributions during the last 65 years. The partnership coincides with seasonal collections and campaigns and extends throughout 2015.

Lifestyle footwear and accessories brand Cole Haan has entered into a multiyear partnership with three ballerinas of the New York City Ballet for its Cole Haan Avery Ballet Studio Collection.

The collection re-materializes the classic Avery Ballet Flat, according to the brand, and features product inspired and co-created by Principal Dancers Sara Mearns and Megan Fairchild, as well as Gretchen Smith of the Corps de Ballet.

Kmart has unveiled its annual Fab 15 holiday toy list, a week after Toys “R” Us announced its Fabulous 15.

To help drive sales, Kmart has also unveiled a "Trending Toy Ticker" at Kmart.com/Fab15. The ticker continually updates the top-selling toys as the season progresses to help shoppers keep up to date with the latest trends.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart on Thursday said it plans to hire 60,000 temporary workers for the holiday season, an increase of nearly 10% from last year.

The discounter also said that current workers who want more hours during the holidays will receive priority.

New York -- Lululemon Athletica signed leases to open two new stores in the Soho section of downtown Manhattan, including its first-ever freestanding store for men, The Real Deal reported.

The men’s store will be located at 127 Prince Street. The women’s store will take space at 125 Prince Street.

Lululemon is on track to open some 45 locations this year.

Canada’s leading food and drug retailer Loblaw Companies is highly regarded for its private label prowess and now its President’s Choice brand is the focus of the most ambitious marketing initiative ever.

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm will make its Michigan debut when it opens a store in downtown Birmingham, on Oct. 2.

The 15,000-sq.-ft. plus store will feature a curated selection of products made in Michigan, part of West Elm’s Local initiative. The initiative, launched this year, taps into local entrepreneurship by empowering the teams in West Elm stores to find area makers and designers, building and nurturing a creative network that celebrates craftspeople and differentiates the brand with regional assortments.  

New York -- ICA Sweden has signed a licensing agreement with Starbucks Coffee Company to open Starbucks retail stores in the grocery store channel in Sweden. The cafés will be operated by ICA according to the Starbucks licensing concept and under the Starbucks brand.

Initially, the plan is to open three Starbucks retail stores during 2015. These will then be evaluated before a decision is made on the possible establishment of more cafés.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay Inc. is releasing the EBay Enterprise Commerce Marketing Platform, a new omnichannel engagement suite that will enable marketers to drive and optimize one-to-one commerce at scale. Designed and built from the ground up, in strategic partnership with FICO, a predictive analytics and decision management software company, the platform combines the commerce insights, demand generation delivery technologies and intellectual property of EBay Enterprise with FICO’s analytics technologies and products.

Grapevine, Texas – GameStop Corp. plans to exit the Spanish market by selling some stores there to U.K.-based video game retailer Game Digital plc, and closing the remaining locations. Under the terms of this proposed agreement, GameStop will transfer ownership of a portfolio of GameStop stores located in Spain with the remaining retail sites winding down in 2014.

GameStop will work closely with Game to ensure a smooth transition and continued support for all of GameStop’s customers in Spain.