Mass Merchant

New York – Disney and Ralph Lauren, vertical brands with a strong retail presence, are the highest-ranked retailers in a new Brand Keys survey of what brands U.S. consumers consider the most patriotic. To determine the rankings, Brand Keys drilled down into consumer response to 230 brands to see which were most associated with the value of patriotism.

Following is a list of the retailers who made the list of top 50 most patriotic brands, with their emotional engagement strength for patriotism:

No. 3: Disney (96%)

Seattle - Nordstrom Inc. has appointed Tanya Domier, CEO of Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC (ASM) to the company's board of directors. Her addition brings the total number of directors to 14 and the number of independent directors to 11.

Chicago - Mid-America Real Estate Corp.’s Investment Sales team recently brokered the sale of Randhurst Village in the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect. Tarrytown, New York-based DLC Management Corp. purchased the 1,009,937-sq.-ft. regional power and lifestyle center.

Randhurst Village national tenants include Costco, Home Depot, Jewel-Osco, AMC Theaters, Carson Pirie Scott, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sports Authority, TJ Maxx, Old Navy, PetSmart and World Market.

Rebel flags are now a hot commodity after numerous retailers yanked Confederate-related merchandise from their stores and websites.

Wal-Mart, Sears and eBay announced their decisions Monday, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called on legislators to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds. After doing so, sales of Confederate flags spiked on Amazon to claim first, second, and third place on the site's list of biggest sales gainers in the previous 24 hours. Prices ranged from under $2 to nearly $16 per flag.

Hong Kong – A subsidiary of global export company Li & Fung is partnering with two Chinese department store retailers to open as many as 300 stores in the Shanghai free trade zone. Li & Fung Trading (China) Holdings Ltd. is forming a joint venture with Shanghai Bailian Group Co. Ltd. and Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co. Ltd. Li & Fung holds a 20% stake and each department store chain owns a 40% stake.

The National Retail Federation is recognizing the nation's top law enforcement officers with the organization's annual loss prevention awards.

Recipients of the Ring of Excellence, Law Enforcement Retail Partnership and Retail Case of the Year will be honored during an awards ceremony at NRF PROTECT, the retail industry’s largest event for retail loss prevention executives in North America.

Grand Rapids, Mich. - Meijer has moved into its sixth state, opening its first two Wisconsin supercenters. The 192,000-sq.-ft. stores in Grafton and Kenosha have created nearly 600 jobs.

In addition to the retailer's grocery, merchandise and garden center at each store, the new pharmacies offer drive-thru pick up and the Meijer free prescription program.

In August, Meijer will open two additional stores in Wauwatosa and Oak Creek. The retailer has plans for continued growth in Wisconsin.
 

Washington, D.C. – Back-to-school spending for both K-12 and college students is on the upswing this year. According to a study of more than 6,400 adults with children in K-12 and college conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights, 29% of K-12 households plan to spend more in the current year than the previous year, as do almost 30% of college households.