Sales & Marketing

San Francisco – August 2014 sales results indicate the 2014 back-to-school period had a significant boost to shopping activity. According to new data from in-store retail analytics provider Euclid, traffic increased substantially compared to the previous month, aided by temperate weather and multi-year highs in consumer confidence.

Shoe Carnival may have had a challenging second quarter thanks to soft store traffic, but the company is looking forward to implementing improved digital capabilities — including the launch of its first-ever mobile app — as part of its aggressive push to evolve the omnichannel shopping experience for its consumers.

New York - Saks Fifth Avenue is launching a user-generated content hub on Saks.com called #SaksStyle. Created by Curalate on its Fanreel image integration platform, #SaksStyle will function as a daily go-to guide for fashion inspiration created solely by Saks customers, highlighting products purchased from Saks Fifth Avenue locations nationwide and online.

Armonk, N.Y.  -- Online U.S. retail sales for August 2014 were up more than 11% as compared to the same period the prior year. According to new IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, mobile traffic accounted for 41.5% of all online traffic, up 34% compared to the same period the previous year.

Speed Commerce, a leading provider of omnichannel e-commerce services, has appointed former Oracle executive Mark Steele as the company's VP of global sales and marketing.

Steele boasts more than two decades of sales experience with a proven track record of success in firms ranging from Global Fortune 100 to early and mid-stage venture backed startups.

Houston -- In a deal that will create a national specialty bedding retail powerhouse, Mattress Firm Holding Corp. has agreed to acquire rival The Sleep Train Inc. for about  $425 million. As part of the deal, Mattress Firm said that it will also assume certain additional liabilities totaling about $15 million.

Sleep Train operates approximately 310 specialty mattress stores, primarily in California, Oregon, and other Western states. It reported net sales of $471 million for the 2013 fiscal year.

Tiffany & Co. has named Jill Beraud as an EVP, effective Oct. 13. Beraud will be responsible for global retail operations, including all sales channels in every region, as well as oversight of strategic store development and real estate.

“We are delighted that Jill will join our management team and believe that she can further enhance our regional and global capabilities to support Tiffany’s continued sales and earnings growth,” said Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and CEO.

Chain Store Age makes no secret of the fact that we are a retail publication – and have been since 1925. Our readership is retail headquarters executives and our content is directed toward, and influenced by, that very group.

In the September 2014 issue, however, we looked at another group – one that is integrally involved with retailers and often determines the success of a single store or an entire market:  retail brokers.