Consumer Electronics

Seattle –- Amazon.com will open a holiday pop-up store at San Francisco Westfield Centre, in San Francisco, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, according to the San Francisco Business Journal.   

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel debuted “The Intel Experience” in-store shops in 50 Best Buy locations nationwide. The hands-on “experience zone” gives shoppers the opportunity to try, explore and play with the latest, cutting-edge technologies from 3-D printing to digital disc-jockey remixing.  

Milan, Italy -– Enrico Cavatorta, who accepted the role of CEO at global eyewear manufacturer/retailer Luxottica Group in September 2014, has resigned due to what the company termed disagreements with corporate governance structure. Board member Roger Abravanel also resigned for the same reason.  

Las Vegas -- The Howard Hughes Corp. on Oct. 9 officially opened Downtown Summerlin in Las Vegas, the largest retail development to open in the U.S. since the economic downturn.    The destination features 125 stores, restaurants and entertainment venues located in a 106-acre expanse of prime real estate just off the 215 Beltway, between Sahara Avenue and Charleston Boulevard. The development also features a nine-story Class A office building - One Summerlin. 

New York -- Smart machines, mobile and digital business transformation all weigh heavily in tech research giant Gartner’s top 10 predictions for IT organizations and users in 2015 and beyond.    Here is an overview of Gartner's top 10 trends:    

New York -- For the second year in a row, Apple ranks as the most valuable brand in the world, followed by Google, on Interbrand’s 15th annual Best Global Brands Report. Apple was valued at $118.9 billion, up 21% over last year, while Google was valued at $107.43 billion, up 15%. Rounding out the top five were Coca-Cola, IBM and Microsoft. It was the first time in the history of the Best Global Brands report that two global brands – not just one – had a brand value that exceeded $100 billion.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop announced the first in a series of updates to its GameStop app on mobile devices, and a chance for users who download the new app to win 1,000,000 PowerUp Rewards points.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us has appointed Michael Melzer as managing director, Central Europe, responsible for the company’s operations throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including 91 stores and four e-commerce sites.

Melzer previously served as managing director of Staples in Germany, overseeing both its retail stores and online business. Before that, he spent five years with the department store chain Karstadt, first as director, corporate development and later as managing director of its e-commerce business.