Marketing Tactics

Plano, Texas -- Legal wrangling about J.C. Penney Co. selling Martha Stewart-branded home goods is reportedly continuing. According to The Motley Fool, a hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 25 to review allegations in the New York Post that J.C. Penney plans to terminate its contract with Martha Stewart Living.

Chicago -- Retail sales are forecast to rise 2.4% during the holiday season of November and December while total retail traffic will decrease 1.4% as compared to the year-ago period, according to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics. The company also notes that retailers have less time to capture peak holiday spending: There are only 25 days lie between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Christmas this year, compared to 31 days in 2012. And unlike last year, consumers have only four (not five) full weekends to shop.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th plans to open a new store in Aventura, Fla., on Sept. 20.

The store will be located in Town Center Aventura developed in partnership with Turnberry Media and will be the third Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th location in Miami. The 28,000-sq.-ft. layout includes an open floor plan, moveable fixtures and bright lighting.

Los Angeles – Menemsha Solutions, a provider of retail development services, completed the design-build for online retailer JustFab.

JustFab’s first brick-and-mortar flagship is a 3,000-sq.-ft. space at Glendale Galleria, in Glendale, Calif. Menemsha Solutions’ design team created a retail space cohesive with the brand’s online shopping experience. Custom lighting, video screens and niche displays were designed and applied to creatively showcase the product.

Sales at Target stores in Canada have been a little uneven since the company entered the market earlier this year, but at least the company can point to an unrivaled environmental accomplishment.

Talk about planning ahead. Target has announced a new collaboration with designer Peter Pilotto that won’t hit stores or the Internet until February 2014.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company on Monday opened two flagship stores in Beijing, China. The new Beijing flagship stores were designed by members of the in-house Starbucks global design team and the local Starbucks China Design Studio, one of 18 international design offices worldwide. One store is a “coffee tribute” store at Kerry Center and one is an “eclectic chic” 24-hour store in the Taikoo Li Sanlitun district.

Walmart awarded a $500,000 grant to the Northwest Arkansas Council to support the advancement of healthy living and economic improvement initiatives throughout Northwest Arkansas. 

The grant is part of a three-year commitment by Walmart to fund the Greater Northwest Arkansas Development Strategy, a regional growth and development plan spearheaded in 2010 by the Northwest Arkansas Council, local chambers of commerce and other organizations.