Retail

Minneapolis – Robert S. Pick, senior VP of corporate development of Comcast Corporation, has been appointed to the board of directors of ValueVision Media Inc., a multichannel retailer operating as ShopNBC. Pick joined Comcast in 1989 and since that time has worked on ventures including the NBC Universal joint venture with GE Corporation, the acquisition of AT&T Broadband, and many other strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

New York -- Britain’s Marks & Spencer (M&S) has completed the roll out of contactless payment to 644 of its United Kingdom stores, including its railway and airport franchise locations. The roll-out, which followed a successful trial in 25 London stores last summer, cements M&S’ position as the U.K.’s leading contactless retailer, processing over 230,000 contactless transactions every week.

Toronto -- Canadian Tire Corp. plans to spin off most of its real estate assets into a C$3.5 billion (approximately U.S. $3.49 billion) real estate investment trust, with an initial public offering expected later this year. The proposed new REIT would acquire a majority of the company's owned real estate, including approximately 250 properties comprised largely of Canadian Tire Retail stores, Canadian Tire anchored retail developments and one distribution center.  

Chicago -- Dillard's has selected OpinionLab to extend its omnichannel “Voice of Customer” program including its digital, mobile and in-store experiences, with precise insight into what its customers want and need.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Jeff Balagna will join the company as executive VP and CIO. In his new role, Balagna who most recently served as CIO at Eli Lilly, will be responsible for all technology and infrastructure initiatives for the company in its support centers and in-store.
   

New York -- TJX Cos., The Buckle and Zumiez all reported better-than-expected same-store sales for April, even as concerns about the job market bit into other retailers’ results.
   
TJX Cos. said that same-store sales in April were up 8% on strong customer traffic, better than 6.8% increase that analysts had expected. For the four weeks ended May 4, total revenue rose 9% to $2 billion.
   

Princeton – A substantially higher percentage of Americans (60%) would rather save money than spend it (37%), according to a new Gallup poll. Consumer show little difference in these preferences according to demographic categories such as age, gender, education and political party.

Target’s new “Cartwheel” Facebook shopping app is a great concept – use the world’s most popular social media platform to help generate in-store traffic. But the execution is clunky. It kind of reminds me of the second “Star Wars” trilogy that came out around the turn of the millennium – the back story of Darth Vader was rich with potential, but George Lucas polluted a great dramatic story arc with floppy-eared aliens and lame attempts at political commentary.