eCommerce

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens will reward 1 million customers at its stores nationwide on Thanksgiving Day with a free one-day Redbox DVD rental, the drug store chain announced.

The DVD rental, which will be given to the first 130 customers (not including prescription purchases) at the chain's more than 7,700 locations, will be valid at all Walgreens Redbox locations from Thanksgiving Day through Dec. 24.

The new year will see a changing of the guard in the chief executive’s office of several big retailers. Here are four to watch:

Costco
The torch has been passed at Costco Wholesale Corp., with president and COO Craig Jelinek stepping into the very big shoes of the company’s longtime chief executive and co-founder Jim Sinegal (effective January 1, 2012).

Reston, Va. -- For the first 20 days of November, comScore reported that online spending rose 14% to $9.7 billion. The company forecast that online sales for the full November through December period would increase 15% to a total of $37.6 billion.

Niwot, Colo. -- Casual footwear-retailer Crocs debuted its new concept store, with locations in Mall of America, Bloomington, Minn.; Barton Creek, Austin, Tex.; and Streets at Southpoint, Durham, N.C.

Westbrook, Maine -- Olympia Sports has opened its 200th store, in Dunkirk, Md., at Dunkirk Gateway Shopping Center.

The regional sporting goods chain has four more confirmed openings by yearend.

“We will continue to expand in our current footprint as well as throughout the Mid-Atlantic States. Our studies have shown a real opportunity for expansion throughout this new market, and we plan to aggressively pursue those opportunities,” said Ed Manganello, president.
 

Philadelphia -- Metro Commercial Real Estate said that Athleta has opened its first store in the Philadelphia area at 1722 Walnut Street in the heart of Center City. 

The 4,000-sq.-ft. store, which is a division of Gap Inc., opened on Nov. 9. Kaiserman Cos. is the landlord of 1722 Walnut Street, a strip of high-end retail along Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Row.
 

Woodbridge, N.J. -- Fameco Real Estate announced that Platypus Custom Home Furnishings has signed a 5,005-sq.-ft. lease at the Streets of Chester, in Chester, N.J. 

The Streets of Chester is a 104,682-sq.-ft. lifestyle center tenanted by Chico’s, White House Black Market, Coldwater Creek and the Gap.

This newest location is Platypus’s fifth.
 

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. has promoted Casey Carl to the new position of president of multichannel, and to senior VP, merchandising, effective immediately.

Carl, 36, who joined Target in 1997, and most recently served as senior VP hardlines and as a co-lead on Target’s multichannel steering committee.

In his new role, he will oversee Target's mobile, social and Target.com and continue to lead the company's entertainment, toys, sporting goods and electronics business.

New York City -- Gap Inc. on Thursday opened its first store in Poland, in Warsaw’s Arkadia mall.

Gap and its Polish franchise partner, Ultimate Fashion, are planning to open more stores in Poland in 2012 and expand to other countries in the region.
 

NEW YORK — Most consumers have their wallets ready for Thanksgiving weekend and are armed with plans to spend an average of $224, according to Deloitte's pre-Thanksgiving shopping survey.