Mass Merchant

Canadian discounter Dollarama has turned to an Office Depot executive to guide the company through expansion plans in 2015.

The company announced that Elisa D. Garcia has been appointed as an independent director and member of the nominating and governance committee of the corporation. Garcia's appointment expands the company’s board of directors to 10 directors, seven of whom are independent.

Columbus, Ohio -- Vineyard Vines, a retailer of preppy inspired clothing and accessories, has opened a 3,000-sq.-ft. store in Easton Town Center. The store is the brand’s third Midwest location after Chicago and St. Louis, and is part of a plan to open 10 more stores in major U.S. markets by the end of 2015.

New York -- The Kmart store in Chillicothe, Ohio, has scaled back its hours and grocery offerings in preparation for its switch from a 24-hour supercenter to the retail chain's new K-Fresh concept, according to a report by the Chillicothe Gazette.

The newspaper reports that the K-Fresh concept has been piloted at two stores, one in suburban Chicago and another in Hawaii.

Luxury online retailer Gilt Groupe has been preparing for an IPO for a year now, but didn’t have enough cash. Now the retailer says it has raised another $50 million from venture backers.

Founded in 2007, Gilt is a New York-based e-commerce retailer that holds flash sales of discounted luxury items from clothing to home décor. The $50 million infusion brings Gilt’s total amount raised to about $250 million.

Cincinnati - Multichannel grocery shopping is surging across the globe, with the birth of a new child being a primary driver of an increased propensity to buy online. In addition, according to findings of a new study from customer service company dunnhumby, emerging and nascent markets are seeing the most growth with 97% and 89% year-on-year growth, respectively.

New York -- The consumer electronics and furniture sectors of the retail industry can look forward to growth in 2015, while the apparel sector faces a more mixed outlook. That was the message sounded by CIT Commercial Services executives during a roundtable discussion, "Everyone Looks Good in the Black: Retailers in the Economic Rebound,” part of the CIT Executive Insights series.

During the discussion, each CIT executive offered their views on the top trends they see ahead in various sectors of the retail market:

Customer satisfaction with retail is on the decline for the first time in four years, according to a report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

The report says brick-and-mortar retail show weakening or flat customer satisfaction, while Internet retail is up from a year ago.

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Customer satisfaction with retail is down for the first time in four years. According to a report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), all brick-and-mortar retail categories show weakening or flat customer satisfaction for the fourth quarter of 2014.  Internet retail satisfaction, however, is up from the same quarter in 2013.