Sales & Marketing

CVS Health is launching a suite of new digital tools aimed at helping customers manage their health with more ease and efficiency, including the use of beacon technology to deliver in-store pharmacy messaging.

Saks Fifth Avenue is pulling out all the stops to make its two upcoming stores in Canada true destinations whose attractions extend beyond buying the latest fashions.

The company will open a163,000-sq.-ft. store at Toronto’s Eaton Centre at Queen Street on February 18, 2016, and a 150,000-sq.-ft. location at Sherway Gardens, also in Toronto, on February 25, 2016.

How busy is Times Square? Enough to support two Modell’s Sporting Goods stores.

The retailer is opening two new stores in the New York City metro area, including one at 136 West 42nd Street, its second Times Square location. Modell’s is also opening a store at Crossroads Plaza East in Rocky Point, New York.

The two new locations will expand the retailer’s portfolio to 155 stores in 10 states.

When it comes to retail rents, Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue is really in a class by itself.

Upper Fifth Avenue, between 49th and 60th streets, is the most expensive retail corridor in the world, with rents rising 3.6% to $3,500 per square foot through the first half of this year, according to an annual report from Cushman & Wakefield. (The top 10 streets are listed at end of article.)

Fifth Avenue rent was nearly double that of the second priciest corridor, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, at $2,399 per square foot.

Martha Stewart has taken her American Made store out of eBay and announced a new partnership with Amazon.com.

Marketing and merchandising changes at Target Corp. are paying off as the retailer reported better than expected traffic and sales in the third quarter.

For the quarter ended Nov. 1, Target reported a same-store sales increase of 1.9%. Net sales rose 2.1% to 17.6 billion.

Profit rose to $549 million, or 87 cents per share, up from $352 million, or 55 cents per share in the year-ago period. Not including one-time items, the company earned 86 cents per share, which was in line with Wall Street expectations.

Judging from the latest 2015 Temkin Loyalty Index, which measures consumer loyalty to large companies, shoppers are maniacal when it comes to their favorite grocery stores.

Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, H-E-B, Publix and Trader Joe's were at the top of the list when it comes to consumer loyalty, bookended on either side by credit card and insurance company USAA.

Aldi and Hy-Vee also made the top 10 list of companies to which consumers are most loyal.

Atlanta-based Home Depot reported steady growth of transactions for its DIY and pro customers in third quarter 2015, leading the way to net sales of $21.8 billion, up 6.4% from the same quarter last year.

Net earnings for the world's largest home improvement retailer jumped 12.2% to $1.725 billion.

"During the quarter, we saw broad-based growth across our geographies and product categories, led by growth in transactions from both our DIY and pro customers," said Craig Menear, CEO and president.