Marketing Tactics

Las Vegas -- Boulder, Colo.-based Wenger took top honors as Store of the Year in the Association for Retail Environments’ (A.R.E.) annual retail design competition. It’s the first U.S. retail outpost for the company, which is best known as the maker of the Swiss Army Knife.

The Target brand was a big winner over the weekend, as Dario Franchitti piloted the number10 car of Target Chip Gansassi Racing to victory in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg, Fl, consisted of 100 laps over a 1.8 mile, 14 turn course, and the distinctive red and white Target car was featured extensively during television coverage. To watch highlights of the race, click here.

NEW YORK -- Macy's and makeup artist Bobbi Brown have teamed up to support Dress For Success, the international nonprofit that promotes economic independence for disadvantaged women by providing a network of support to help women thrive in work and in life.

Macy's customers can now purchase an exclusinve set of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics;100% of the purchase price of the set will benefit Dress For Success Worldwide. The set retails for $60 (valued at $121) and will be available while supplies last.

Minneapolis -- Carlson Restaurants, parent of T.G.I. Friday’s, announced at a conference in Dallas last week that it plans to double the number of units globally under a program it is calling Ambition 2015.

"With the strength of our Friday's brand, our management team and our franchise partners, we are uniquely positioned to dramatically increase the footprint of our business," said Nick Shepherd, president and CEO of Carlson Restaurants.

Even though Target’s efforts in the electronics area have been overshadowed of late by all the action in food and consumables, the company has consistently positioned itself to become a more relevant player in the space. The most recent example involves expansion of a trade-in program that coincides with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS hand-held gaming system. The product is a big deal due to some new technology that lets users experience 3D without the annoying glasses, but the product is expensive ($249), and that doesn’t included the added cost of games.

NEW YORK — The share of private-label brands and products will double to 50% by 2025, thanks to a continued emphasis made by retailers.

In a new report released by Rabobank's Food and Agribusiness Research division, author Sebastiaan Schreijen noted that national brands and smaller, secondary brands (referred to as "A" and "B" brands, respectively) will prompt an intense price competition and therefore will cause the private-label market to become chock-full of higher-quality "B"-brand products at lower prices.

BOSTON -- Sports Authority has been named the official partner of Major League Lacrosse, the league announced. 

Under terms of the agreement, Sports Authority will become the exclusive national sporting goods retailer of the MLL.

TOPEKA, Kan. and MIAMI -- Payless ShoeSource announced that it is now partnering with internationally acclaimed Colombian fashion designer, Silvia Tcherassi, to create the latest Payless designer label, Silvia Tcherassi for Payless, with an initial collection available in May.