Sales & Marketing

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. will officially spin off its education unit on Aug. 2, 2015. Barnes & Noble shareholders will receive 0.632 shares of Barnes & Noble Education stock for each share of Barnes & Noble stock they hold as of July 27, 2015.

Barnes & Noble Education will function as a separate public company and trade under the symbol BNED on the New York Stock Exchange. Barnes & Noble will continue trading on the NYSE under the symbol BKS.

The latest back-to-school promotion from Staples includes deeper discounts, a free trip to California for 50 students, and a new TV advertising campaign.

“This is our 29th back-to-school season at Staples. We’re using or knowledge and expertise to help parents, students and teachers get 110% ready for school with our lowest price guarantee,” Parneros said. “Whether shopping on Staples.com or in our stores with our amazing associates, Staples makes it easy to shop for students in elementary school through college.”

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is not backing down in its challenge to the upcoming July 15 Amazon “Prime Day” event. One day after reducing the minimum online purchase for free shipping from $50 to $35 and reducing prices on thousands of online items, Wal-Mart is going a step further and guaranteeing it will offer lower prices than Amazon.

Express has recruited a new supermodel to serve as the face of its fall 2015 denim collection.

U.S. supermodel Karlie Kloss will star in the retailer's "Fit for You" advertising campaign photographed by Lachlan Bailey and styled by Claire Richardson. The official campaign launches July 2015 in print, digital, in-store, and on social media.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - Cold Stone Creamery is planning to heat up the ice cream market in the Indian subcontinent. The retailer is entering India and Sri Lanka.

Kahala Brands, the parent company of the Cold Stone Creamery brand, is partnering with Tablez Food Company, part of Lulu Group International LLC, to open 40 stores in India and five stores in Sri Lanka during the next five years. The first store will open by the end of the year at the Lulu Mall in Kochi, India.

Chicago -- Comcast and experience design firm ESI Design have created Studio Xfinity, a retail environment where play, technology, and entertainment combine to create an engaging and fully integrated customer experience.

With Amazon.com’s share price approaching $500 on the heels of a highly publicized 20th anniversary promotional event, the struggling Books-A-Million chain announced a deal to go private for a paltry sum.

The Books-A-Million chain was always a distant competitor to the likes of Barnes & Noble and even the now defunct Borders chain. Then along came Amazon.com and Books-A-Million grew more irrelevant. As its sales and profits declined so did its growth prospects in the eyes of investors and its stock price.

Los Angeles -- The chief executive of Guess is stepping down.

Guess co-founder Paul Marciano announced that he will be succeeded as CEO of the apparel maker by former Inditex executive Victor Herrero in August. Marciano will continue to serve as chief creative officer, and will also replace Maurice Marciano as executive chairman.

Herrero, a 12-year Inditex veteran, served as head of Asia Pacific for the apparel conglomerate, whose brands include Zara. He is credited with building the company's multi-million dollar Asian business.