In-Store Media

Birdies has gotten some new seed — seed funding that is   The San Francisco startup, known for its stylish and comfortable house slippers, announced it has raised $2 million in seed funding. The round was led by Forerunner Ventures, the investors behind Jet.com and Dollar Shave Club, with participation from Slow Ventures, Graph Ventures, Social Capital and a few strategic individual investors.    

Facebook is helping retailers bring their catalogs to life.   The social media giant introduced a new ad format that enables brands to distribute catalogs through mobile devices. Called "lifestyle templates,” the new format replicates the look of a print catalog, and also allows customers to make a purchase items directly through the Facebook ad, according to Business Insider.   

There's a new story at Story — the innovative retail outpost in downtown Manhattan that totally reinvents itself every couple of months — and this time it's all about beauty.

Target Corp. is launching an array of private brands and the discounter is giving them a big kickoff.   The discounter will launch an aggressive marketing campaign for the new labels, AdAge reported, including everything from print and television spots to in-store events and visual merchandising.      

Pottery Barn is bringing its new store concept to the city where it all began.    The retailer, a division of Williams-Sonoma, will unveil a 17,000-sq.-ft. flagship on September 8, 2017, in Manhattan's Flatiron District. (The first Pottery Barn store opened in 1949 in the West Chelsea section of lower Manhattan.)   

Retail design firm Chute Gerdeman has been acquired by FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding) Chicago, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.   The Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman will now align with FCB/RED, the company's retail and shopper marketing division, to deliver full omnichannel retail marketing and connected physical branded experiences.  

The spinner craze helped propel Five Below in its second quarter, as the teen and tween value-retailer turned in an exceptionally strong performance that topped expectations.   Revenue rose 28.7% to $283.3 million in the quarter ended July 29, topping analysts' estimates of $276.6 million. Same-store sales jumped 9.3%, the highest since the chain's IPO in June 2012.  

As much as today's shoppers want convenience, they also prioritize saving money and will make time to uncover the best deals online and offline.     Over half (53%) of consumers indicated they invest over two hours a week looking for deals and savings across all sources, according to a survey from Valassis. About 25% of millennials and moms spend over four hours a week in their search for value.