Home Depot

The fact that Home Depot is hiring 80,000 associates for its busy spring season may not seem like a big deal, but the retailer is arming these employees with unprecedented retailing technology.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Company announced that Kenneth Hannah has been named senior VP and CFO of the company, replacing Russ Hammer as of Feb. 16.

Hannah most recently served as executive VP and CFO of J.C. Penney Co. Prior to that time, he served in multiple executive roles at SunEdison (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials), including president of Solar Energy and of Solar Materials and as VP and CFO.

Former GameStop Senior Vice President of Human Resource Mike Buskey was elevated to the role of president of U.S. stores to oversee GameStop’s more than 2,000 locations.

By Owen Shapiro

As every marketer knows, the era of Big Data is here, and with it comes a huge smorgasbord of opportunities to connect with customers in amazing new ways. For marketers and brand managers, the prospect of knowing more about customers’ lives, habits, and desires than ever before is understandably exciting.

While you are preparing to take maximum advantage of all the glorious opportunities Big Data offers, keep in mind that the devil in Big Data could be in these overlooked details:
 

While the monetary value of Bitcoin has had its ups and downs (and will likely continue to in the near future), the technological value and the transactional advantages of using the digital currency remain reliable and increasingly promising.

Chicago – One pure-play and six omnichannel retailers received top honors for their online customer service in the E-Tailing Group’s Q4 2014 Mystery Shopping Study. In alphabetical order, the top performers were Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kate Spade, Office Depot, Ross-Simons, The Home Depot, Williams-Sonoma, and Zappos.

Atlanta -- PGA Tour Superstore, which is backed by Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, has signed a multi-year national partnership agreement with Golf Channel that includes a brand integration program and a strategic media buy.

The PGA TOUR Superstore only operates 22 locations but it just signed a deal with the Golf Channel that should do wonders for brand awareness in a category that has proven challenging for mass market retailers.

Home Depot’s efforts to advance tech innovation in retail will be getting a big boost from the company’s latest initiative.

The retailer has partnered with the Georgia Institute of Technology to create a cutting-edge research center, focused on advancing tech innovations, education and giving young talent an opportunity to grow. The new Home Depot Technology Center will allow the company to work with more than 40 start-up companies housed at Georgia Tech.

It may not feel like it in many parts of the country, but spring, the busiest time of the year for home improvement stores, is just around the corner. And Lowe’s is wasting no time in getting ready.

The retailer said it plans to hire 30,000 employees at its stores in the United States during spring. 

Home Depot is sure to follow the move by Lowe's with its own hiring spree in the next few weeks, especially considering it hired as many as 80,000 seasonal employees in winter/spring 2014.