Sales & Marketing

Englewood, Colo. – Sports Authority Inc. is partnering with online protection plan provider Simplr to let customers protect new purchases. The product enables customers who purchase a protection plan to repair or replace a covered piece of sports equipment – such as treadmills, bikes, or golf clubs.  

There are no deductibles, repair costs, or hidden fees. Shoppers file a claim online. The three step claims process is straightforward and can be completed online any time, day or night:

1. Register the product online,

Online grocery delivery service Instacart has had to add boats to its fleet of vehicles now that the growing company has decided to launch in Miami.

Customers in Miami can now order from Whole Foods Market, Costco, Winn-Dixie, BJ'S Wholesale Club and Petco stores and have everything delivered by Instacart in as little as one hour. Instacart customers do not need a Costco or BJ's membership to shop from those stores.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. - Kohl’s Corp. is preparing to open a store in southern New Jersey called "Off Aisle by Kohl's," a name that suggests the company may be following the lead of other retailers opening off-price formats.

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – Coming soon in Technicolor Walt Disney World resort will offer a slew of new shopping and dining options. Retailers including Zara, Tommy Bahama, Lilly Pulitzer, Uniqlo and Pandora are the latest to sign on as Downtown Disney continues its expansion into Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort.

Big Lots is looking to get a piece of the $1 billion pet products pie with a new and exclusive partnership with the American Kennel Club.

The retailer has announced that it plans to launch AKC®Select, an exclusive line of pet products featuring the American Kennel Club brand. This new premium line of merchandise, along with Big Lots' current pet product offerings, will provide dog owners with an exceptional value, the company said.

Corte Madera, Calif. - RH (Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc.) is reportedly planning to open a more than 70,000-sq.-ft. RH Gallery format store at the Tivoli Village upscale shopping center in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the store would be the largest Restoration Hardware location in the U.S.

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens provides localized offerings in its new and remodeled store formats. To support this effort, Walgreens has implemented JDA Software’s Category Management solution.

Walgreens can now analyze the existing performance of a planogram, using the data to answer key questions about why a category is behaving in a certain way. Planogram data is shared into all parts of the organization, including but not limited to the e-commerce, pricing, markdown, and operations teams.

New York -- Surging rents in Manhattan have claimed another victim, and this time it's one of the city's most iconic retail establishments. F.A.O. Schwarz will close its legendary toy store on Fifth Avenue this summer, citing the high and rising costs of operating a store on one of the city's most pricey blocks of real estate. Toys "R" Us, which acquired F.A.O. Schwarz in 2009, said it will close the 45,000-sq.-ft.