Sales & Marketing

For all their differences, the shopping center owners and brokers from around the world who will gather at the end of May in Las Vegas for retail real estate’s annual RECon confab are alike in they will all be on the lookout for new retail concepts to entice shoppers.

The good news is that are plenty of brands ready to spread their wings. Some have been around for a couple of years, but are now flush with new financing. But many are formerly pure players that are now turning their attention to physical stores.

The world’s largest ice cream manufacturer has opened its first U.S. storefront, a pop-up in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Unilever is opening custom-dipping shops for its Magnum Ice Cream brand around the world, and the SoHo outpost is its first U.S. storefront. (Unilever’s other ice-cream brands include Ben & Jerry’s, Fudgsicle and Klondike.)

Regional grocer Raley’s Supermarkets is upgrading its omnichannel customer experience with an eye toward mobile convenience and personalized service.

West Sacramento, California-based Raley’s, which operates 122 stores under four banners in California and Nevada, is launching a new e-commerce platform called E-Cart. Based on technology from Unata, E-Cart includes features that aid the web, mobile and in-store shopping experience.

May 20 is shaping up as a momentous day at Brixmor Property Group with newly appointed CFO Angela Aman slated to begin work the same day as recently appointed CEO Jim Taylor.

Aman’s appointment as CFO was announced in conjunction with the release of Brixmor’s first quarter financial results on April 26 and follows the April 12 announcement that James Taylor had joined the company as CEO.

Johnny Rockets is celebrating its 30th anniversary year — and reaching out to millennials — with a brand refresh that does away with the company’s signature '50s nostalgia.

The man who turned a single struggling bookstore he bought in 1965 into a retail empire is retiring from active duty.

Leonard Riggio, founder and executive chairman of Barnes & Noble Inc., announced that he will retire as chairman in September, following the chain’s annual shareholder meeting.

“I’ve done everything I have wanted to do in business and now it is time for me to pursue the many other endeavors related to my philanthropic and social interests,” said Riggio.

Plans are being finalized for a new 100,000-sq.-ft. retail re-development in Enid, Oklahoma, across from the city’s Oakwood Mall, according to developer GBT Realty Corp.

Amazon.com continues to expand its fulfillment center network along with its fleet of college pickup locations.

The e-tail giant will open two new fulfillment centers in New Jersey, in Florence and Carteret. The new centers will create more than 2,000 new full-time jobs in the Garden State, where Amazon already employs more than 5,500 full-time workers.