Retail

Enesco, LLC, a leading global designer, producer and marketer of branded giftware, plush toys and home and garden décor, has appointed Molly C. Kinney as president of Department 56, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enesco.

Kinney replaces Susan Azar, who recently resigned her position after 10 years with Department 56. 

Lewisville, Texas – Consumers prefer prepaid cards that can be used anywhere to gift cards from specific retailers and physical cards to digital cards.

According to the new “People Prefer Prepaid Rewards” study from Parago, more than half of shoppers prefer prepaid cards over gift cards from Amazon, iTunes, Target, Walmart, Home Depot and more. In addition, two out of three shoppers prefer physical cards over digital cards.

New York -- Masayoshi Son, billionaire founder of tech/telecom company SoftBank Corp., has reportedly won bidding for the Tiffany Building in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo. According to Forbes, Son paid about $36 million for the 10-story glass building.

The Tiffany Building houses the flagship Japanese store of Tiffany & Co. Son did not comment on why he bought the building.

New York -- Chain Store Age will celebrate its 50th annual SPECS show with a very special opening keynote: A Conversation with President George W. Bush.

The 43rd president of the United States will give the keynote at SPECS, the industry’s premier store development and facilities event, on Monday, March 10, 2014, at the Gaylord Texan Hotel, Grapevine, Texas. The full conference will run March 9 – 12, 2014.

For more information and to register for SPECS, click here.

According to Shop.org, more than half (55%) of all retail-related Internet time in June 2013 originated on smartphones and tablet devices combined, compared with just 45% originating from desktop devices. 

Shop.org teamed up with comScore and the Partnering Group to generate the report, released at Shop.org's Annual Summit, which found that smartphone Internet usage in June 2013 totaled 44% of retail Internet minutes, up from 17% in June 2010. Tablet internet usage accounted for 11% of total minutes on retail sites.

Dallas – Neiman Marcus Group is offering free standard shipping and returns for all domestic purchases made online through Neimanmarcus.com and Bergdorfgoodman.com as well as Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores.

"The customer has always been at the center of the Neiman Marcus business model. Permanent free shipping and returns have been a top request and we are happy to be able to make this change just in time for the holiday shopping season." said Wanda Gierhart, chief marketing officer, Neiman Marcus Group.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Sam's Club will open its newest club at 460 S. Weber Road in Romeoville, Ill., on Oct. 3. The Romeoville club will become the 21st Sam's Club in the Chicago area.

Amazon is getting ready for the holiday shopping rush and creating more than 70,000 full-time seasonal jobs across its U.S. fulfillment centers to meet an increase in customer demand — a 40% increase over last year’s seasonal hires. 

In 2012, Amazon converted thousands of seasonal employees into regular, full-time roles after the holidays, and expects to do the same this year. On average, seasonal employees earn 94% of Amazon fulfillment center employee starting wages and are eligible for health care benefits.