Sales & Marketing

Staples is accelerating its pursuit of growth opportunities abroad even as the company awaits regulatory approval of a proposed merger with Office Depot.

Staples has announced a partnership with Bidvest Waltons, South Africa’s leading office products company, and Dacris, a major distributor of office supplies in Romania.

Greensboro, N.C. -- Tanger Factory Outlets is enhancing the grand opening events of its new centers with social media.  The company is blending the traditional shopping experience with the excitement of social interaction though three social media activations, or pop-ups.

Sunrise, Fla. -- Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm focused on consumer brands, said that that its affiliate has acquired pet specialty retailer Pet Supermarket from Charles E. West, Jr., the company's founder. Pet Supermarket will remain headquartered in Sunrise, Florida, and continue to be led by Diane Holtz, its CEO.

Pet Supermarket operates 155 pet specialty retail stores in 11 states generating over $300 million of revenue.  

Cult favorite grocery chain Wegman's is coming to New York City, with plasn to build a massive store in Brooklyn.

Louisville, Colo. -- Trader Joe’s is America’s favorite grocery retailer for the third year in a row, according to a study of more than 7,200 consumers by Market Force Information. Publix ranked a close second and Aldi was third.

London – U.K. home and garden retailer Homebase is using IBM Commerce to provide more personalized shopping experiences by integrating in-store, online and mobile channels.

As a result, Homebase has achieved double-digit sales growth in all digital sales channels and a 30% increase in online visitors. With more than 40% of its customers now visiting online, Homebase collaborated with IBM to help redesign how its digital channels could offer more help, advice and inspiration.

Digital interactions are expected to influence 64 cents of every dollar spent in retail stores by the end of 2015, or $2.2 trillion, according to Deloitte.

London – Moms with kids younger than 18 are known to be discerning, and only two retailers made the list of top 10 best perceived brands among these special ladies. According to the latest Brand Index from market research firm YouGov, Amazon.com ranked number two with a score of 58.8, Skechers came in at number eight at 48.1, and Samsung nabbed the number 10 spot at 47.7.