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Aeropostale, the teen apparel retailer that most of the industry had written off as dead, has risen like a Phoenix.     Starting this week, the company is reopening more than 500 doors across the United States. In February, Aéropostale will kick off its spring 2017 marketing campaign, which is designed to showcase the brand’s trans-formation under its new owners. The campaign will be in the stores as well as online and through social media.    

Charitable giving exceeded $971 million, partially fueled by the convenience of mobile commerce.    That’s according to data aggregated in PayPal’s interactive tracker, the company’s online “giving” platform. In addition to contributions made during the holidays, PayPal reported it processed $7.3 billion in contributions in 2016 — an 11% increase in charitable giving for the year.  

Holiday online sales surpassed predictions, generating $1 billion daily for the majority of a two-month period.  

While most retailers reduced traditional advertising spend in favor of digital sources this holiday season, Amazon made an unprecedented move to television.   This was according to the “MediaRadar Trend Report” that examined holiday advertising spend among Amazon, Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Sears, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penney, between October and November 2016.    When comparing holiday ad spend by retailer, here is how the companies fared:  

Noted retail real estate expert Faith Hope Consolo has high hopes for 2017, predicting that bigger-spending millennials and recession-proof retailers will keep sales humming on high streets and in malls, if not in department stores.   “Millennials are going to start shopping differently this coming year,” Consolo told Chain Store Age. “It used to be they’d spend up to 75% of their disposable income on food, but that was a fad. This year, they will start spending more on fitness and fashion.”  

Convenience store operator QuickChek has stepped up its mobile efforts with a geo-marketing program that keeps the brand engaged with on-the-go mobile shoppers.    While QuickCheck’s customers were increasingly becoming mobile-influenced, the 140-plus store chain lacked a dedicated digital marketing team — making it impossible to connect with its shoppers.   

Instagram’s rapid growth should be music to retailer’s ears.   The Facebook-owned photo and video sharing app has hit 600 million monthly active users, a 100 million user jump in the last six months, according to Recode.   

Ikea stores are so inviting that some teens want to spend the night.   Ten of the Swedish home furnishing giant’s stores across the world have been the location of illegal sleepovers, BBC News reported.   

For more than half a century, Chain Store Age’s annual SPECS conference has delivered one of the retail industry’s most important and impactful events.        The 2017 event, to be held March 12-14 at the Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee, Florida, will cover a wide range of emerging and evolving issues, focusing on must-see innovations and essential information about trends, topics and technologies that will be impacting the industry for many years to come.   

For the past five years, retailers and millennials have been in a very one-sided relationship.    Big budgets were spent to capture and engage with this highly sought-after group of consumers through intelligent advertising, a carefully curated social media presence, and viral marketing campaigns. And in true millennial fashion, the response was indifferent.    But retailers, it’s no longer all about millennials.