Mass Merchant

St. Louis -- Nike, Apple, Samsung, Sony, and Walmart are the top five “most beloved” brands of millenials in a report by digital advertising agency Moosylvania. The 2015 Top 50 Millennial Brand Ranking Report is based on panel studies of 1,500 millennials (defined as aged 14 to 35).   

New York -- Total Halloween sales are expected to grow 3% to total $7.29 billion in 2014, due to improving economic conditions and employment levels. According to a new study from market research firm IBISWorld Inc., costume sales are expected to rise 6% to $2.76 billion, spurred by more theme parties and social media photo sharing.  

By Leela Rao-Kataria, GT Nexus    When most people are asked what the busiest holiday for retailers’ is they immediately cite the traditional holiday season. But most consumers don’t realize back-to-school shopping is the second biggest shopping season in the United States. And unlike the winter holidays, back-to-school has an additional challenge for retailers: it’s the longest running holiday season, extending over three months.    

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is planning to sharply cut back the growth of its U.S. supercenters in favor of smaller-format stores and acccelerated e-commerce and digital investments.    

A much anticipated acceleration of small format Walmart stores failed to materialize on Wednesday when the retailer announced plans to curtail domestic new store growth in 2016.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has named Fran Horowitz to the position of president of its Hollister brand. Horowitz, 51, will report to CEO Mike Jeffries and will have overall responsibility for all product and customer-facing activities for the Hollister brand, and for its financial performance. Horowitz is expected to commence employment with the company on or around Oct. 20, 2014.   

Seattle –- Amazon.com will open a holiday pop-up store at San Francisco Westfield Centre, in San Francisco, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, according to the San Francisco Business Journal.   

Minneapolis -- Few companies (5%) believe they are “advanced” when it comes to omnichannel capabilities, and between 35% and 40% believe they are lagging, according to a report by SPS Commerce, a provider of enterprise retail cloud services. The company’s third annual “Retail Insight” report confirms the cross-functional challenges retailers, suppliers and logistics firms face as they build omnichannel capabilities into their operations.