Sales & Marketing

Improved demand for cabinetry propelled Norcraft Companies to a fourth-quarter sales increase of 13%.

The maker of kitchen and bathroom cabinetry in the United States and Canada completed its initial public offering in the fourth quarter, in which sales reached $80.5 million.

Boston -- Furniture and home décor retailer Z Gallerie has deployed Oracle Commerce to  improve conversion and basket size.

In August 2013, Z Gallerie went live with Oracle Commerce, resulting in more relevant content, improved navigation and better ease-of-use regardless of the device customers use to access the site. The full implementation was completed quickly and sales from on-site search have dramatically increased.

Academy Sports + Outdoors has renewed its multi-year partnership with the Atlanta Braves. The specialty retailer also plans to open two new stores in Cartersville, Ga., April 11 and Douglasville, Ga., May 2.

"We're thrilled about our continued expansion in the Atlanta metro area," said SVP of marketing Anita Sehgal. "Our partnership with the Braves and the two additional stores are clear indicators of Academy's commitment to our ongoing growth in the Atlanta community, Braves fans, and active-minded families throughout Georgia."

Atlanta -- Crowd-sourced delivery company Kanga has launched a new iPhone and Android app that will place on-demand delivery options in the hands of local customers. The first market to pilot the on-demand shipping solution is Kanga’s home base of Atlanta.

The solution, which leverages crowd-sourced labor, is designed to connect customers and retailers with local delivery drivers.

Duluth, Minn. -- Ascena Retail Group, parent to the Maurices, DressBarn and Lane Bryant banners, announced the 900th Maurices store opening. The Fresno, Calif., store will officially open later this month, joining 899 other stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Maurices will open 60 new stores by the end of its fiscal year in July 2014. In addition to new store openings, Maurices is remodeling or expanding 80 stores this year.  

The company's long-term goal is to reach over 1,200 stores domestically and 100 stores in Canada.

Compare Metrics, a leading provider of adaptive commerce navigation and discovery tools, appointed Mike Sherman as chief technology officer.

Dallas — Dickey’s Barbecue will open seven new locations this week — in Kent, Wash.; Richland, Miss.; Vienna, Va.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Clinton Township, Mich.; Yonkers, N.Y.; and Dallas.

The fast-growing 391-unit restaurant chain has added more than 200 stores in the past two years. There are more than 150 stores in development.

Modell's Sporting Goods is replacing its paper-driven employee-selection process with Infor PeopleAnswers Talent Science — a tool designed to improve that process as well as development and succession planning for its chain of more than 150 stores throughout the Northeast.

According to Infor, Infor PeopleAnswers Talent Science is available via the cloud and uses science, technology and analytics to predictively link behavioral data to real business outcomes, helping companies improve business performance, reduce turnover and optimize the HR process.