Retail

The once bankrupt and liquidated retailer Linens ‘n Things is poised for a comeback following an acquisition of the brand by Galaxy Brand Holdings.

The Pep Boys is converting 18 recently acquired Service & Tire Centers in Southern California to its new Road Ahead format and preparing for the grand reopening of six supercenters and five Service & Tire Centers in Tampa, Fla.

The company already converted nine Service & Tire Centers to the Road Ahead format this year, and reported that performance at those stores has been ahead of original projections. The company also plans to convert three additional smaller markets (20 supercenters) in the first half of 2014.

Target has unveiled a section of its website that features products that are trending on hot social media site Pinterest.

The Target Awesome Shop is a shoppable catalog that features a curated crop of products from several lines, including beauty, each of which is among those most pinned on Pinterest in the last few days, but only if they have at least a four-star guest review.

Tumi Holdings has named Joseph R. Gromek as chairman of the company’s board of directors. Gromek, who joined the board in April 2012, succeeds Richard P. Hanson, who has stepped down as chairman.

Until his retirement in February 2012, Gromek served as president and CEO of the Warnaco Group since April 2003, and as a member of the company’s board. From 1996 to 2002, Gromek served as president and CEO of Brooks Brothers. During the past 25 years, Gromek has also held senior management positions with Saks Fifth Avenue, Limited Brands and Ann Taylor Stores.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has turned to Velcro Industries to help it enhance packaging for its Scotts EZ Seed grass seed with Velcro-brand PRESS-LOK closure technology.

The leading marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products and Velcro Industries worked with manufacturer Peel Plastics Products, a recognized leader in product and process innovation, to integrate Velcro Industries' PRESS-LOK closure technology into Scotts' grass seed package.  

Product designer, marketer and distributor FirsTime Design Limited elevated Christopher Bering to the role of president and CEO.

The company, which does business as FirsTime Manufactory through its License Products subsidiary, said Bering will also serve as a member of the board. Bering previously served as president and COO and fills the position occupied by Pete Wierenga since January 2012. Wierenga will continue to serve as chairman of the board.

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, 5.8% of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6% last year.

Black Friday social mentions more than doubled those of Cyber Monday this year. But a new infographic from SAP shows that consumers felt the most excited and happy about Cyber Monday.