Sales & Marketing

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm is launching what it calls “We Love Local Small Business Grant” contest, designed to support U.S.-based artists, makers and designers as they grow and scale their businesses.

The contest launches Aug. 12 with open online submissions, followed by in-store portfolio reviews in five stores across the country. The public will vote online for one of 20 finalists selected by West Elm, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 19.

Home furnishings retailer West Elm, the fast-growing division of Williams-Sonoma with 58 stores and counting, plans to launch a contest called “We Love Local Small Business Grant.”

Designed to support U.S.-based artists, makers and designers as they grow and scale their businesses, the small business grant contest will this week with open online submissions.

By Breton Leone-Quick and Steve Ganis

Three executives were named to new roles at leading appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer Haier America.

Haier America, part of the $29 billion Haier Group, named Gina Copeland SVP of air quality, Sanjay Gupta VP of product platform development for major appliances and Paul Riley as VP of sales and marketing for major appliances.

Charlotte, N.C. -- Aston Properties announced plans to develop Caldwell Crossing in Harrisburg, North Carolina, on the corner of Caldwell Road and Hwy. 49. 

Construction has begun on the 85,000-sq.-ft. center with an anticipated opening date in late fall 2015.

Caldwell Crossing will be anchored by a Harris Teeter grocery store and will include up to 26,000 sq. ft. of small shops. In addition to Harris Teeter and the shops, the center will include two outparcels.

Cleveland -- WorkPlace Impact found in a recent survey that 49% of working female consumers are making millions of trips between Monday and Friday. What’s more, 46% of the women that WorkPlace Impact surveyed reported that they regularly purchase groceries on their way to or from the office or during a lunch break.

Further affirming that working women often have groceries on their mind during the workday, the study also found that 84.4% of the women surveyed said they regularly or occasionally add items to their grocery shopping lists at work.

Overstock.com is offering shoppers a new method of paying for their purchases — a store credit card. The new cards will be provided by Comenity Capital Bank, which furnishes credits cards for retailers such as Buckle and Express.
 
"We always like to give our customers options," Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne said. "That applies to both product selection and payment method. Allowing customers to pay for larger purchases over time is an exciting development and one that has been received enthusiastically."
 

Seattle – Online specialty jewelry and diamond retailer Blue Nile Inc. reported net income of $2.17 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, a 1% drop from $2.2 million in the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. Net sales also decreased 1%, to $1.06.6 million from $108 million.

Blue Nile cited falling diamond prices as having an adverse effect on its financial performance during the quarter.