Sales & Marketing

Ottawa, Canada - The retailers who “won” during the holiday season in 2013 were those that offered meaningful discounts on a sizable number of products on Black Friday instead of discounting a small number of door crashers. According to analysis from 360pi and Retail Systems Research, poor financial performance followed those retailers who discounted during the week leading into Black Friday, and those who kept discounts in place following Cyber Monday generally fared better than those who raised prices.

Oak Brook, Ill. - Dollar Tree has signed a 12,767-sq.-ft. lease at Pelham Manor Shopping Plaza in Pelham, New York, bringing the center to 100% leased for the first time since it opened in 2008. The 228,000-sq.-ft. center caters to the surrounding neighborhoods of Pelham Manor, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and the north Bronx.

Acquired in 2013, the center features national retailers such as BJ's Wholesale Club, PetSmart, Michaels and more. Dollar Tree will be located next to Five Guys Burgers and Fries and is expected to open in early November.

Whole Foods is aiming to make life for customers in 15 cities a little more convenient. The company has entered into a partnership with grocery delivery service Instacart that enables customers to have Whole Foods Market products delivered to them in one hour.

Customers will soon also be able to place orders via Instacart and pick them up local participating Whole Foods Market stores, making Whole Foods the first national Instacart partner to offer the in-store pickup service.

Las Vegas - Cricket Wireless and GameStop Corp. are launching a new strategic retail relationship that will offer Cricket Wireless' no-annual contract service in more than 2,800 GameStop U.S. store locations. Starting in October after a successful trial in select markets, GameStop will begin selling Cricket Wireless no-annual contract service and smartphone devices and accessories.  

The increasingly competitive yoga apparel category just got a little more crowded. Sports Authority has launched an exclusive yoga line called Bloom, which it says it created specifically for women who enjoy being connected to the outdoors.

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens has named Barry Rosenstein, founder and managing partner of New York City-based hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, to its board of directors. The company is expanding its board it continues moving forward to complete its merger with Alliance Boots GmbH.

Pittsburgh - For the first time ever, the majority of consumers are visiting retail websites on smartphones and tablets rather than on traditional desktop and laptop computers. According to Branding Brand's Mobile Commerce Index report, in August 2014, mobile devices generated 51% of all online retail visits, the majority of which occurred on Apple devices.

Imerjn, formerly known as Xumanii International Holdings Corp, is an early stage company that develops and sells mobile software and hardware solutions. It has integrated its cloud with Facebook and Twitter, which will allow users to share files directly from the Imerjn cloud.