Retail

New York -- Cautious spending and economic realities that are bifurcating the American holiday shopper into two distinct segments are two of the 10 trends that are expected to drive the 2014 holiday shopping season, according to a new report from PwC US and Strategy.

The 2014 holiday shopping season will be characterized by cautious spending, while economic realities create one of two American holiday shoppers — survivalists and selectionists — according to a new report released Tuesday from PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. and Strategy, titled "2014 Holiday Outlook: Top trends, consumer behaviors and implications for retailers."

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Curbside, a new startup that specializes in same-day pickup from local stores, launched its service on Monday with several retailers on board, including a pilot with Target Corp.

The new service is currently available in 10 Target stores across the greater San Francisco Bay area, including the retailer’s Metreon and Geary St. locations downtown.  

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens is conducting a developer contest to encourage integration of its Balance Rewards application program interface (API). It allows users of other apps to earn Balance Rewards loyalty program points for making healthy choices, with rewards points redeemed for merchandise in-store or online.
 

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in the Philadelphia area on Oct. 11. The store is located in Pilgrim Gardens in Drexel Hill.  

This new opening is part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Kohl’s is taking a different approach to customer engagement with the launch of its Yes2You Rewards loyalty program nationwide. The program aims to foment customer loyalty by building deeper relationships and providing customers with a more personalized, value-driven shopping experience.

New York – Coach Inc. has leveraged the MicroStrategy Analytics Platform and MicroStrategy Mobile to produce automated reporting that provides anytime, anywhere visibility down to the store level. Coach has built an interactive mobile application using MicroStrategy Mobile that provides its retail teams with the ability to examine sales trends for any given geography, including at the individual store level, with a swipe or tap on their iPad devices.

Party City has promoted Gregg A. Melnick to president of Party City Holdings, effective immediately. Party City Holdings is the parent company of the Party City Retail Group and Amscan Inc., among other entities. Most recently, Melnick was president of the Party City Retail Group.