Sales & Marketing

New York -- There was good news for retailers in the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual BTS (Back-to-School) Consumer Spending Survey.

The survey revealed that the share of consumers expecting to spend more this year increased significantly year-over-year to 67%, compared to 50% of shoppers in 2014 and 39% who expected to increase spending in 2013.

Chicago -- Starbucks Corp. is ratcheting up its already significant commitment to job creation.

The coffee giant is teaming up with such other retail powerhouses as Walmart, CVS Health, Walgreens, Macy’s, Target and J.C. Penney in an ambitious jobs program to hire 100,000 16- to 24-year-olds "who face systemic barriers to jobs and education" by 2018 through apprenticeships, internships, training programs, and both part-time and full-time jobs.

Batavia, Ill. -- Comedian Ben Bailey is doing his thing in an Aldi supermarket as opposed to his usual taxi cab.

Aldi, the fast-growing deep-discount supermarket chain, has teamed up with Ben Bailey, best known as host of the former TV series "Cash Cab,” in an online video series. Described as equal parts education and entertainment, the series is designed to help introduce Aldi to new customers across the United States and in Southern California specifically, where it is planning to open approximately 45 new stores in 2016.

Fabletics, Kate Hudson’s athletic wear and accessories line, is taking the next step in the evolution of the brand.

The athleisure brand co-founded by the award-winning actress will open its first brick-and-mortar stores at five General Growth Properties (GGP) shopping centers this fall to build off the success of its e-commerce platform.

Launched in 2013, Fabletics offers premium fashion-forward activewear for women, and recently launched a versatile and high-performance athletic wear line for men, FL2.

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market has received approval for the design of a planned 40,000-sq.-ft. store from the Planning and Design Review Board of the City of Miami Beach. The design features a well-proportioned grid of white concrete, establishing a pedestrian loggia at the ground level, and a floating garden above that screens the parking.  

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Oracle is enabling retailers to fulfill orders in the cloud with two new product releases on the Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud platform. The two solutions, Oracle Order Management Cloud and Oracle Global Order Promising Cloud, provide modern order promising, management, visibility and fulfillment capabilities.

When building and deploying mobile apps, retail and distribution firms have employed a variety of approaches, including custom app builds, cloud-based DIY app builder tools, and in some cases, building their own enterprise app stores. No matter what path is chosen, businesses involved in all aspects of retail are turning their attention to applications that can improve the productivity and efficiency of an increasingly mobile workforce.

Ankeny, Iowa - Casey’s General Stores Inc. is set to have its first new CEO in more than a quarter-century. After more than 26 years with the company, Robert J. Myers, chairman and CEO, will retire as CEO at the end of the 2016 fiscal year on April 30, 2016.