Mass Merchant

The Ascena Retail Group is adding a seasoned retail CEO and a legal expert to its board of directors.

The parent company of Ann Taylor Loft, Ann and other banners announced three changes to its board of directors on Friday. Board member Klaus Eppler is retiring and Carl (“Chuck”) Rubin and Steven L. Kirshenbaum are joining the board.

Walmart confirmed that its CMO, Stephen Quinn, who had held executive marketing positions with the chain for 10 years, will retire in January.

Michael Francis, Target Corp.'s former marketing guru, has been hired as a consultant. Francis spent 26 years at Target and most recently served as global brand officer for DreamWorks Animation. In August, he announced that he planned to step down from Dreamworks.

Former Target CMO Michael Francis will reportedly serve as a marketing consultant at Walmart when the retailer’s current CMO steps down.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Stephen Quinn will retire as executive VP and CMO in January after spending nearly a decade at the Walmart. Francis, who spent 27 years with Target, is expected to join Walmart to initiate a broad marketing revamp and work closely with Quinn’s successor, The Journal said, citing a person it said was familiar with the situation.

Shoppers at Walmart stores will soon be able to pay with their smartphones as the retailer has developed a unique solution to become the newest entrant in the crowded world of mobile wallets.

Lyndhurst, N.J. -- Ripco Real Estate Corp. announced David Townes has joined its New Jersey office sales team. Prior to joining Ripco Townes worked at Welco Realty for five years where he represented a combination of landlords and retail tenants. One of his many strengths and areas of expertise includes assisting retailers looking to expand in the New Jersey and Rockland County, New York areas.

Although numerous players have entered the mobile payment arena in recent months, Walmart Pay is poised to be much more disruptive to the mobile payment landscape

Watch this video for a time-lapsed video on how Target transformed a 16,000-sq.-ft. space in Manhattan into its holiday-themed pop-up, Target Wonderland.

Angela Ahrendts, senior VP of retail for Apple and former CEO of Burberry, is taking a more luxe approach in some of the company’s retail stores. “The stores are the best physical manifestation of the brand,” Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research, told the New York Times. “Angela is bringing her sensibility to that experience.” [New York Times]