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Minneapolis – Target Corp. is making a big online push for the holidays, including expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 (the service is now available in about half of the chain’s locations). And for the first time, Target will promote the concept of Cyber Week, with an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that focuses on Cyber Week deals including Cyber Monday.

New York -- The Millennial generation is expected to outspend Baby Boomers by 2017, yet retailers underestimate the size and purchasing power of this consumer, according to a new study by Berglass + Associates and Women’s Wear Daily.

The study, “What Happens When Millennials Get the Wallet,” found that retailers do not fully understand the needs of Millennials and are employing business strategies and tactics that do not apply to this customer.
 

Queens, N.Y. — The Fresh Meadows neighborhood in Queens is getting an Unleashed by Petco store. The new store will begin its grand opening celebrations Saturday, Nov. 9 and continue the celebrations over two more weekends.

The Fresh Meadows Unleashed buy Petco will host several community gatherings throughout the year. There will be adoption events aiming to unite the area’s shelter pets with forever homes, Pug-a-Palooza, local dog meet-ups, contests and social gatherings.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- PunchTab, an omni-channel loyalty and engagement platform, announced that Arby’s Restaurant Group, Cosi and Bareburger have adopted PunchTab’s technology, and are benefitting by offering rewards to customers across multiple channels. In fact, research shows, customers are 2.5 times more likely to buy when engaged on multiple channels.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney Co. has reportedly been defending itself against anonymous allegations made on Twitter. According to Bloomberg, J.C. Penney recently had to publicly deny tweets saying the company had hired a bankruptcy attorney and no longer had Canadian credit.

Hackettstown, N.J. – Custom couponing app Photopon is releasing version 2 of its iOS app, which lets consumers select nearby deals, attach a personal photo and write a message to create a personalized coupon that can be shared through the app, email, text messages or social networking sites.

Kohl’s is the latest department store to announce that it will open its doors at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, as it kicks off its Black Friday event earlier than ever.  

Stores will be open for 28 hours straight, from 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 28 through midnight Friday nationwide.

Toys"R"Us has unveiled its 2013 holiday marketing plans, including a new television campaign that positions the store as the go-to destination for toys this holiday season.

The broadcast commercial, which began airing on Sunday, Oct. 20, features a group of children who think they're going on a field trip to "Meet the Trees" and end up at Toys"R"Us instead.