Retail

San Jose, Calif. -- Lance Thornswood, longtime general manager of user experience, e-commerce and creative for Target.com and interactive marketing, has been tapped to head up inRetail, a new division being launched by The Stephenz Group, one of Silicon Valley’s largest independent branding, marketing and digital agencies. The specialized division will address the growing consumer demand for omni-channel retail.

Washington, D.C. — Divaris Real Estate has announced that Goodwill has signed a 6,954-sq. ft. lease at Divaris-leased Maddex Square Shopping Center in Shepherdstown, W. Va.

Divaris represented the landlord in the lease negotiations. Food Lion and McDonalds anchor Maddex Square.

 

Fortune Brands Home & Security, a leading home and security products company, has named Jason Baab as VP of mergers and acquisitions. His role will support the company’s growth strategy that includes expanding its portfolio.

The company also promoted Elif Sagsen-Ercel to VP of strategy. Baab and Sagsen-Ercel will report to Chuck Elias who was elected by FBHS earlier this year as SVP of strategy and corporate development.

Chicago -- Four of the 10 busiest holiday shopping days will occur between Dec. 20 and Dec. 24, and retailers should prepare accordingly, according to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics. Additionally, with a shortened shopping season and only four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas – down from five last year – retailers must be ready to capture holiday spending during a narrower window of time.

Bedford, Mass. – Daily mobile/online retail revenues surge an average of 55% on Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving), but a corresponding surge in attacks drives hard losses, on average, as much as $500,000 per hour or $8,000 per minute. In addition, a new study of 1,100 U.S., and U.K., retail IT staffers from RSA and the Ponemon Institute shows that 66% of respondents expect that disruption would result in customer churn that would damage reputation and brand and could push losses as high as $3.4 million from a single hour of disruption.

ChannelNet, a customer acquisition, retention and conquest digital services provider, has appointed Molly Smith as VP of customer support and services.

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm announced that it will open a store in Mill Valley, Calif., on Nov. 7. West Elm is owned by Williams-Sonoma.

Located in The Strawberry Village shopping center, the 10,000-sq.-ft. store will open with the brand’s diverse mix of furniture, home décor, gifts and artist collaborations. The store will also feature an assortment of local, handcrafted products sourced through Etsy.com that include jewelry, wall art, kitchen linens, coasters and candles.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer announced that it is now operating one of the largest all-clean diesel fleets in North America. As part of its ongoing green initiatives, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer's fleet utilized innovative technology to improve fuel efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint by nearly 60% since it first began implementing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 near-zero emissions standards three years ago.