eCommerce

New York -- Disney unleashed its considerable marketing prowess on Friday and retailers were hoping the company’s “force” would translate into big sales.

On Friday, the entertainment giant formally debuted hundreds of toys and other products related to its upcoming — and hugely anticipated — film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”  

Livonia, Mich. -- It’s Labor Day, time to start thinking about Halloween.

In anticipation of one it calls of the largest retail holidays in the U.S., costume superstore, Halloween City, is creating thousands of temporary jobs to staff the hundreds of Halloween City stores now opening across the country.

The retailer is recruiting up to 10,000 new employees to fill temporary management and store associate positions nationwide.

Garden City, N.Y. -- Simon announced that Roosevelt Field, located in Garden City, New York, has entered its final stages of redevelopment, and also released the names of retail brands to occupy the new two-level retail wing. Most of the stores, with some opening early September, will make their Long Island debut. The new wing will lead to the area's first Neiman Marcus store opening in February 2016.

North Plainfield, N.J. -- Levin Management announced it has been named the exclusive leasing agent for two New Jersey properties: Whiting Town Center in Whiting Township and Fords Shopping Center in Woodbridge Township.

Whiting Town Center is a 118,000 sq. ft. grocery-anchored property with a mix of retail, restaurant and service tenants. Earlier this year Levin was retained by new ownership to continue its role as managing agent for Whiting Town Center.  

Leading European apparel retailer Primark is so confident its brand of fast fashion will appeal to American shoppers it has leased a 677,000-sq.-ft. distribution center to support its new stores opening this month.

The first Primark store opens on Sept. 10 in Boston and will be followed by a second opening in November at the King of Prussia mall in Philadelphia. Six additional openings are planned before year end in Burlington and Braintree, Mass., Danbury, Conn., Freehold, N.J., Willow Grove, Pa. and Staten Island.

The new Star Wars film awoke a promotional force of epic proportions over the weekend, but now retailers are faced with daunting task of driving sales of merchandise tied to a movie that won’t hit theaters for more than three months.

More than 3,000 retail locations in the U.S. opened at midnight on Friday to unveil aisles of new merchandise tied to the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” film, according to Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.

New York -- Apple is getting ready to unveil its next generation of store design — and the industry is already buzzing over the details.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many available — and the few that are don’t seem very revolutionary. What little specifics known about the store are based on remarks made by Rick Millitello, who presented the new store plan on behalf of Apple to the Germantown Design Review Commission for review. (And yes, it was approved.)

Here are three details:

Los Angeles -- The nation’s largest privately held specialty premium coffee and tea retailer has a new chief.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf named John Fuller as its new president and CEO. For the past five years, he served as president and CEO of The Johnny Rockets Group, where he directed operations for the multi-million dollar global restaurant chain, which spans 28 countries with 338 locations. Fuller left Johnny Rockets earlier this year.
 

New York -- Amazon is not only expanding its instant-order “Dash” button program, it’s also making the buttons virtually free.

Dodgeville, Wis. – The second quarter was nothing short of a fiscal landslide for Lands’ End as the specialty retailer posted its third straight disappointing quarter. Revenue fell 10% and profit was down by more than a third.

“The results that we are sharing today do not represent the true potential of our company,” Federica Marchionni, president and CEO, told analysts during a conference call.