Sales & Marketing

Smoothie operator Tropical Smoothie Café has refreshed its brand by blending a coastal atmosphere and elevated customer experience – with plans to take the new look and feel to locations nationwide.   "As Tropical Smoothie Cafe continued growing and evolving over the past several years, it became obvious to us that our brand's image needed to follow suit,” said Mike Rotondo, CEO. The company launched the rebranding via a new restaurant design that it plans to introduce to new and existing stores.

Clicks-to-bricks phenomenon Bonobos’ retail journey will soon extend to Manhattan’s Madison Avenue. The company has signed a 10-year lease for 1,725 sq. ft. on the ground floor of 488 Madison Avenue near St. Patrick’s Cathedral.   Neighbors of Bonobos at its new location include Saks Fifth Avenue, Tourneau, Burberry, and Nordstrom’s Trunk Club. The Feil Organization recently completed major renovations on the building, including a two-story glass curtain wall in the office lobby.  

Amazon has launched an online shop dedicated to innovative products from start-up companies.   Amazon has teamed up with popular crowdfunding site Kickstarter to showcase a collection of products that have been successfully funded on the platform. The Kickstarter Collection is featured on Amazon’s Launchpad section, the company’s storefront for hardware startups and crowdfunded projects. The new collection has more than 300 products, and covers a wide range of categories, from electronics and toys to home and kitchen.

Leasing has begun on HELM Miami, a mixed-use development destined for a full city block in Miami’s Design District, a neighborhood carved out in an under-developed area north of downtown near Biscayne Bay.   Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Retail will handle leasing, led by executive managing director Thomas Citron and executive VP Mitchell Friedel.  

Rent-to-own giant Aaron’s saw its revenues rise but profit drop in the second quarter, and the retailer said it would review its store base going forward.     

A key player in Under Armour’s effort to increase sales of women’s goods is leaving to join Starbucks Corp. But first she has to learn how to serve up espresso.     

Temperatures for the U.S. will trend the warmest in at least five years.    August begins with an active pattern along the East Coast with showers and thunderstorms. Heat will be building across the Central U.S. with a heat wave likely developing in the first week of August. The heat spreads to the East Coast later in the week. Another heat wave during the second retail week of the month will keep it feeling firmly like summer.