Sales & Marketing

The surge in health-conscious retailers is evident wherever one shops. In the space of a few years, the likes of Lululemon, Fresh Market, and Orangetheory Fitness have proliferated in shopping centers. But Whole Foods, arguably a chief driver of the trend, has transformed its own business as well as that of centers.  

Party City Holdco Inc. on Thursday named Daniel J. Sullivan as CFO.   Sullivan succeeds Michael A. Correale, who is stepping down as Party City CFO to focus on the newly created position of executive VP chief accounting officer and treasurer, effective Aug. 29. In his new role, Correale will be responsible for all of the company’s external financial reporting, treasury functions, banking and credit relationships.  

Alex and Ani is ramping up its store growth.   The Cranston, Rhode Island-based retailer plans to open 27 new locations in North America by the end of 2016, giving it a total of some 90 stores.     With the majority of its stores located on the East Coast, Alex and Ani, which is privately held, is now looking further afield. It will make its Southern California debut this fall, in Orange County.    

Starbucks Corp.’s “express” store format made its international debut, in London.   Designed for people on-the-go, the store has a welcoming environment with the barista and customer at its heart. Design features include textures of complementary natural wood and marble. It offers a streamlined menu with items displayed on digital menu boards that rotate throughout the day. The open layout allows for an early order point, which allows customers to order, pay and pick-up even faster.  

At least one retail industry participant is expecting the 2016 holiday season to be prosperous.   Omnichannel commerce technology and services provider Radial plans to hire an additional 550 workers in Reno, Nevada to support an expected 10-fold increase in demand during the upcoming holiday season. Radial operates fulfillment centers in Reno, which are in need of workers to help support its retail clients.  

eBay beat sales expectations in its second quarter, during which it also crossed an important threshold.

The online marketplace reported that it crossed the one billion live listings mark in the quarter, reflecting its efforts to expand the breadth of selection offered to consumers and the progress it has made on enhancing its shopping platform.

eBay reported net income of $435 million, or 38 cents a share, up from $83 million.

Available space in strip centers dipped to 11% in the second quarter, the lowest rate for these neighborhood venues since 2008. The reason: omnichannel growth and format experimentation, according to CBRE, which tracked availability across 62 U.S. markets.  

It won’t help you find Pikachu, but a new mobile tool from Macy’s will assist shoppers in navigating the store.   The department store retailer is piloting “Macy’s On Call,” a solution that lets in-store customers use their mobile phones to interact with an artificial intelligence (AI) platform powered by IBM Watson. The Satisfi intelligent engagement platform provides the connection between the mobile tool and the Watson platform.