Sales & Marketing

New Jersey-based women's shoe company Aerosoles has named a retail and footwear industry veteran as its next CEO.

Starbucks Coffee Company's first store in Panama is located in Panama City, in the Street Mall shopping center. With a 28-ft. high ceiling, the focal point of the 3,304-sq.-ft. store is a one-of-a-kind custom made hanging mobile, designed to represent the Geisha coffee plant, which signifies the birth of the coffee industry in Panama.

A limited assortment of consumer electronics products will be offered in Best Buy branded departments inside 10 Macy’s stores this holiday season.

Phoenix -- PetSmart is making it faster for customers to get the goods they need to take care of their pets.

In partnership with Google Express, PetSmart is adding overnight service in Chicagoland and a five-state Midwest region (120-mile radius from Chicago) in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio, serving 25 million people.

The two firms have been serving the on-demand delivery needs of customers for nearly a year with same-day service in six cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago and D.C.

It’s a commonly held belief among retailers that their most valuable customer is the one that is a brand advocate, has the loyalty card, and makes purchases on a regular basis. But there is a problem with that assumption.

While the patterns of behavior from your most loyal customer can show you what is working, they can’t tell you anything about what isn’t working -- or how to fix it. In truth, a retailer’s most valuable customer is the one that comes into your store, browses, but then leaves before buying.

Kohl’s is looking to get a leg up on the competition this holiday season with an early lineup of the hottest toys this December.

The retailer’s top toys for the holiday season include an exclusive assortment from Star Wars and trusted national brands, including Barbie, Fisher-Price and Melissa & Doug.

Recently an investment banking colleague from HT Capital Advisors mentioned to me that Bombfell, an online men’s clothing subscription service, received $1 million in venture capital funding. Under the business model, an online personal stylist personally selects each member’s items and sends them to the shopper, with free shipping. The shopper only pays for what he keeps (he has 10 days to decide) and then returns the rest, also with no shipping charge. On the heels of that chat, I read about MM.LaFleur, a similar model for women.  

Philadelphia – Five Below is opening its largest location to date, in its home city of Philadelphia.
 
The extreme-value retailer, which targets tweens and teens with goods priced at $5 or less, will open a two-story, 13,000-sq.-ft. store next to its headquarters on Thursday, Sept. 10.