Marketing Tactics

Columbus, Ohio — Lane Bryant has opened a new store at The Shops at Pembroke Gardens, a lifestyle center in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

The grand opening celebration will take place March 7 – 9. Lane Bryant, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascena Retail Group, owns and operates 805 stores nationwide.
 

Belk is gearing up for its bi-annual Kidfest in-store event Saturday, March 29, from noon–3 p.m. at all locations.

It's an innovative way for the Charlotte, N.C.-based department store, which operates 299 locations in 16 Southern states, generate customer traffic, not to mention buzz among shoppers as moms talk about their kids being in the show.

Oak Brook, Ill. – U.S. same-store sales dropped 1.4% at McDonald’s Corp. during February 2014, with global same-store sales declining 0.3%.

Other segment same-store results for McDonald’s during the month included a 0.6% increase in Europe and a 2.6% decrease in Asia-Pacific/Middle East/Africa (APMEA). The company cited severe weather and challenging industry dynamics in affecting its U.S. same-store sales performance.

New Albany, Ohio – Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reportedly plans to shift its marketing and merchandising focus from teens to college students. According to Bloomberg, Abercrombie executives said they will shift marketing, assortments and pricing to appeal to the collegiate market.

In recent years, the retail industry’s view of technology has expanded from something only the IT department needs to be concerned about to something that other departments, such as marketing and finance, also share an active interest in. But as demonstrated by the speakers lined up for the March 11 Tech Boot Camps at this week’s SPECS conference in Dallas, technology is also a concern of operational departments such as store planning, energy management, construction management, and real estate.

Secure the Perimeter

The buzz and hype surrounding 3D printing can make it hard to separate fact from fiction, but one thing is for sure: 3D printing has the potential to transform shopper expectations and retail supply chains.

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corp. is reportedly attempting to draw in younger customers. According to The Seattle Times, after recently missing quarterly earnings estimates, Costco is taking active steps to attract a younger shopper demographic.

These steps include piloting a same-day delivery service with Google in San Francisco, building up its social and online efforts, and increasing its offerings of organic products such as kale.

Seattle - Starbucks Coffee Company and the Disneyland Resort will open a new company-owned Starbucks location at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, Calif. This store will be the first of four to be operated by Starbucks across Disney properties in the U.S.