Retail

Cambridge, Mass. -- Destination XL Group, the largest multichannel specialty retailer of big and tall men’s apparel, will leverage CQuotient’s advanced machine learning and predictive algorithms to create email campaigns tailored to individual shoppers at its Destination XL (“DXL”) stores and e-commerce sites.

Beaverton, Ore. -- Digimarc Corp. announced that Costco Wholesale Corp. is using the Digimarch Discover Intuitive Computing Platform (ICP) to embed transparent digital watermarks in editorial and advertising content connected with The Costco Connection starting with the April issue.

Here’s an interesting take on pop-up stores by Felicity Pogson, associate design director, interiors, Dalziel & Pow, London:

New York -- Cache announced that Daphne Pappas has joined the company as EVP, chief merchandise officer. For the past 10 years, she served as VP general merchandising manager for Burberry America’s where she led the company’s women’s business.

Prior to Burberry, Pappas was the divisional merchandise manager of juniors sportswear at Macy’s East.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax Inc. announced Monday the unveiling of a new format, OfficeMax Business Solutions Center, in downtown Milwaukee. The 5,000-sq.-ft. store is designed to serve small businesses with services, solutions and products to help local entrepreneurs grow their companies.  

Located in The Shops of Grand Avenue, the new format replaces the previous OfficeMax store.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- An SEC filing on Thursday revealed that Sears Holdings Corp. former CEO Louis D’Ambrosio, who stepped down in February citing family health issues, saw his total compensation package shrink nearly 90% from the prior year.

According to the proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sears said D’Ambrosio's salary rose to $1 million in 2012 from $930,769 in 2011. However, the value of his perks, such as corporate housing and travel, shrank to $278,741 from $852,037 in 2011.
 

In the second installment of a case study series, CSA Online continued to offer an insider’s look at the conception and initial rollout of the southern Calif.-based fast-casual concept PizzaRev. Likened to “the Chipotle of pizza,” this innovative chain lets customers choose from an artisanal array of toppings to craft their own pizzas. A test kitchen in Northridge, Calif., was launched in April 2012 and three additional locations soon followed.

Cleveland -- American Greetings Corp. said Monday that the founding Weiss family has reached a deal to acquire the gift cards and party goods company for about $878 million.

The transaction is expected to close in July, and “returns the company to private ownership in a way that we believe enables the company to continue to serve the interests of its customers, employees, suppliers and the communities in which it operates as it has for over a century," said Jeffrey Weiss, president and COO.