Sales & Marketing

New York -- Lululemon Athletica signed leases to open two new stores in the Soho section of downtown Manhattan, including its first-ever freestanding store for men, The Real Deal reported.

The men’s store will be located at 127 Prince Street. The women’s store will take space at 125 Prince Street.

Lululemon is on track to open some 45 locations this year.

With word this week that Walmart will rebrand its small format Express stores under the Neighborhood Market banner, there will be plenty of interest in an upcoming presentation by the retailer’s vp of small formats.

Marc Lieberman, vp of small formats for Walmart U.S., is slated to speak at a Doing Business in Bentonville event on Thursday, October 9. at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Ark., from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Indianapolis -- Real estate giant Simon on Thursday announced 'Simon Launch,' a retail startup competition aimed at discovering, investing in, and accelerating the top startups in the retail industry. Simon will co-invest in the competition's winners through its recently formed venture capital arm — Simon Venture Group — in collaboration with Plug and Play,  a global investor and technology accelerator that specializes in growing tech startups. Simon will also become an Anchor Member of Plug and Play's Retail Accelerator program.

Retail industry veteran Marty Hanaka has joined Highland Consumer Partners as one of the firm’s operating partners.

Hanaka has held senior leadership positions with numerous retailers throughout his lengthy career. Most recently, he served as interim CECO of Guitar Center and from 2007 to 2012 he held the positions of chairman and CEO at Golfsmith. From 1998 to 2004 he served as CEO and chairman of The Sports Authority. Prior to that he spent three years as COO of Staples and also held senior leadership roles during a 20 year career at Sears.

The WhiteWave Foods Company, a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company in North America and Europe, has agreed to acquire So Delicious Dairy Free from its existing shareholders, led by Wasserstein & Co., for approximately $195 million in cash.

San Francisco -- Simon and NRG eVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, announced the installation of new electric car fast-charging Freedom Station sites that can recharge shoppers' vehicles in 30 minutes or less at four Northern California Simon shopping centers: Vacaville Premium Outlets, Livermore Premium Outlets, Great Mall and Petaluma Village Premium Outlets.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has appointed Sue Pifer as VP of compliance and Tiffin Shewmake as the director of the Center for Retail Compliance (CRC).

“The experience and skills that Sue and Tiffin possess make them uniquely suited for delivering exceptional value to our member companies on a broad range of compliance issues. We are excited to have them join the RILA team,” said RILA president Sandy Kennedy.

New York -- Costco Wholesale Corp will stop accepting American Express cards at its stores in Canada, effective January 1, 2015.

“The credit card relationship between American Express and Costco Wholesale Canada will not be renewed when it expires on Dec. 31,” the company stated in an e-mail to Canadian customers.

Costco’s U.S. locations will continue to accept American Express Cards, with the exception of TrueEarnings and American Express Platinum Cash Rebate cards issued in Canada, the chain said.