Retailer Campaigns

Framingham, Mass. -- T.J.Maxx will be opening five stores in the Chicagoland area starting this week and through October.

"The opening of these five stores in the Chicagoland area marks a momentous occasion for our brand," Richard Sherr, president of T.J.Maxx, stated.

All five T.J.Maxx stores will occupy over 122,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

Toronto -- According to the Staples' Annual Back-to-School study evaluating the back-to-school shopping habits of Canadian customers, value is the top priority; 81% of Canadians say they look for a retailer that offers good value.

Highlights from the annual survey include:

• 81% of back-to-school shoppers look for a retailer that offers good value;

• Nearly three quarters (74%) of Canadian back-to-school shoppers prepare their own lists;

• Almost as many (71%) make their own budget;

It’s time for customers who shop at Macy’s to feel extra good as the retailer gears up for its ninth annual national “Shop For A Cause” charity event Saturday, Aug. 23.

The one-day-only shopping event was created to support local charities’ fundraising efforts. Since 2006, the program has helped raise more than $44 million for thousands of charities across the country.

Boston -- Walmart continues to maintain its basket price advantage over Target, according to Kantar Retail’s semi-annual pricing study. But while Walmart maintained its lower-priced basket – with a leap even further ahead in non-edible grocery – the retailer’s basket was still only 1% less expensive than Target’s, the smallest price gap since the June 2012 study.  
 

Social media is slowly but surely moving from a promotional channel to a channel for direct transactions, as evidenced by the recent news that Facebook is testing a “buy” button of its own. Twitter has become a favored means of running time- and location-sensitive retail promotions, such as Twitter-based food truck promotions run by Ben & Jerry’s and Taco Bell, but so far has not presented itself as an effective means of exchanging goods for currency.

A new initiative at Books-A-Million called “The Write Stuff” will reveal whether book buyers value the opinions of the retailer’s merchants.

In the coming weeks, Books-A-Million will roll out its “The Write Stuff” program online and in stores. The program revolves around use of a Write Stuff logo next to different titles which signifies they were hand selected by the retailer’s buying staff.

San Francisco -- Piperlime, a division of Gap Inc., has enhanced its website to include streams of images filtered directly from Instagram providing customers with fashion. Shoppers will be able to click the images and shop the items to make these looks their own. Product pages will also feature styling ideas from bloggers and influencers, showing unique ways to style the same must-have pieces for each season.

The Quest for Texas Best competition is a project of H-E-B Primo Picks, a two-year old statewide program that aims to find the best food and beverage products that Texas has to offer.

Judges whittled nearly 600 submissions from across the Lone Star State to 25 finalists. Submissions came from 128 towns across the state, yielding a mix of jams, jellies, spices and meats. Entries spanned 74 categories including beer, butter, cookies and milk, muffins, Mexican pastries, pickles, sauces and teas.