Retail

St. Louis - Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has appointed Gina Collins to the position of chief marketing officer, effective Jan. 20, 2014. Collins will lead the Build-A-Bear marketing, public relations, entertainment and creative teams to drive sales growth and profitability.

She will be responsible for branding, marketing, public relations, creative, licensing and corporate sales and will report to Sharon John, CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Warren, Mich. — Art Van Furniture has announced a seventh Chicagoland location in Downers Grove. For the new store, slated to open in January of 2015, the retailer plans to renovate a two story 106,000-sq.-ft. former Home Depot Expo Center on Butterfield Road off of Interstate 88.

Art Van Furniture will open its sixth Chicagoland location in Woodridge-Bolingbrook in April. Last year, the retailer rolled out five new stores in the region — in Logan Square, Bedford Park, Orland Park, Batavia and Merrillville.

The back and forth between Jos. A. Banks and Men’s Wearhouse continues. This time the shoe is on Jos. A. Banks’ foot, as the company’s board of directors officially rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from the Men’s Wearhouse.

Jos. A. Bank called the offer, which expires March 28, 2014, and is worth $57.50 per share, or about $1.6 billion, “inadequate and opportunistic.”

Indianapolis – Hhgregg is now offering online ordering with in-store pickup for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad and iPod models and Apple TV devices. Customers can pay in advance and not have to go through in-store checkout.

Former Ulta Beauty CEO Lyn Kirby is reportedly part of a group that acquired Beauty Brands, a cosmetics chain based in Kansas City, Mo.

According to a Crain’s Chicago Business article, Kirby, along with a leveraged buyout firm in California, snapped up the majority stake from advertising executive and entrepreneur Robert Bernstein.

Seattle – Amazon.com has reportedly obtained a patent for “anticipatory shipping,” or a logistics technique using customer behavior and history to prepare items for shipping before they are actually ordered. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon received the patent in December 2013.

Amazon has reportedly obtained a patent for “anticipatory shipping,” or a logistics technique using customer behavior and history to prepare items for shipping before they are actually ordered. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon received the patent in December 2013.

New York -- Why do dark horse companies win -- and how do they win?

That topic is the focus of a new book by sales strategist and Elevation Forum founder Dan Mack: “Dark Horse: How Challenger Companies Rise to Prominence.” 

The best leaders and companies bring more than unique products or services to the market -- they consistently tap into the 10 key growth enablers Mack outlines in his book.