Sales & Marketing

Canton, Mass. - Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, has named Michael R. Shutley as VP, federal & state government affairs.

Reporting directly to Karen Raskopf, chief communications officer, Shutley will work closely with senior management to develop and implement the company's legislative initiatives.

He will also advocate for Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins franchisees at all levels of government, both domestically and internationally.

Amazon is priming the appetites of customers in Seattle with a new feature as part of its Prime Now one-hour delivery service.

Rockaway, N.J. - In anticipation for the Halloween season, Party City will hire an additional 20,000 employees nationwide.

The retailer is hiring Halloween associates to undertake a variety of positions at its 900 stores.

Employees undergo a specialized training program to gain Halloween costume product knowledge.

Indianapolis – With retailers like Amazon.com entering the online services market, online services network Angie’s List is tapping a veteran retail e-commerce executive to run the company.

Scott Durchslag, who served as president of e-commerce and global marketing at Best Buy from 2012-2014, has joined Angie’s List as president and CEO.

Freeport, Maine -- The man who turned a folksy Maine mail-order outlet into a global billion dollar-plus multichannel business has died.

Back in September 2013, I wrote a TechBytes column about how millennials aren’t that different from prior young generations in their interests and needs. I have since realized there are a few unique millennial social trends which reflect specific generational consumer attributes. Using leading-edge technology, retailers can effectively meet the generational needs of this increasingly important customer demographic.

Rock is Dead

Menlo Park, Calif. – As eBay celebrates its 20th anniversary, a new competitor in the online trading market is emerging.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is making it easier for consumers to use its Groups feature to buy, sell and/or trade goods.

Facebook began allowing users to create “for sale” groups late in 2014. However, the social media giant is no longer requiring creators of for sale groups to obtain its official approval before launching them.

Louisville, Ky. -- Papa John’s International announced the promotions of Robert Thompson to senior VP of marketing and Edmond Heelan to senior VP of North American operations and global operations support and training.