Consumer Electronics

The Bon-Ton Stores has elected Daniel T. Motulsky to its board of directors.

Motulsky was a managing director and global head of consumer & retail of Lazard from 2000 to June 2014, having joined the firm in 1998. Lazard is a global financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services primarily with institutional clients.

Ottawa, Canada – Leading the pack of the most price-dynamic retailers are Amazon and Sears, according to analysis from price intelligence technology vendor 360pi. Both retailers change prices on 15%-20% of their 360pi-sampled assortment on a daily basis.

Seattle – Consumers like the Firefly feature that lets users of the Amazon Fire phone scan objects to obtain information and perform instant purchase on Amazon.com, but not enough to switch from their current phones to Amazon Fire. According to a survey of 53 consumers from UserTesting, 84% chose Firefly as their number one or two favorite feature of Amazon Fire.

HH Gregg president and CEO Dennis May expected the company’s first quarter to be challenging, but he did not envision a 10.2% same store sales decline or a $10.3 million loss.

Grapevine, Texas – The GameStop Technology Institute (GTI) business unit of GameStop has entered into strategic partnerships with iBeacon solution providers Shelfbucks and BestFit Mobile, as well as social media hub provider Dynamic Signal. The partnership with Shelfbucks and BestFit will bring Shelfbucks’ iBeacon platform and BestFit Mobile’s ProxDK solution into to its brick-and-mortar retail locations.

Rosemont, Ill. - Horizon Group Properties Inc. and CBL & Associates Properties Inc. have opened The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass, which opened fully leased with 90 stores and eateries. The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass is the only outlet center in the state and is located between Louisville and Lexington on Interstate 64.

Charlotte, N.C. -- Following the resignation of president and chief merchandising officer Kathryn Bufano to take the CEO slot at Bon-Ton, Belk has promoted David Zant as its replacement, effective Aug. 11.

Zant, who will report to Tim Belk, chairman and CEO, has served as Belk’s executive VP and general merchandising manager of men’s, home and kids since 2008.

Walmart kicked off its back-to-school promotional effort the way it does every seasonal selling initiative – with a big emphasis on low prices – but added a stronger digital component this year.

The retailer sought to bring a bit of Black Friday and Cyber Monday magic to its back-to-school efforts with a series of price cuts and limited duration offerings designed to generate sales and drive traffic to its stores and Web site.