Sales & Marketing

Borderfree is a digital company focused on helping retailers sell to anyone anywhere and last Friday the company sold itself to investor’s by completing an initial public stock offering.

The company priced its offering of five million shares at $16 and enjoyed a 32% pop at the open when shares began trading at $21. The upward momentum proved to be unsustainable and by the close shares had receded to $20, registering a still respectable first day gain of 25%.

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group is launching a new business, Simon Venture Group, that will invest in retail innovation, focusing on technology opportunities that enhance the shopping experience.

"We believe we have only scratched the surface on applying technology to the retail environment in innovative, interesting ways," said Mikael Thygesen, chief marketing officer of Simon Property Group.

Trace One, a product lifecycle management company focused on private label, named Mark Martini to its executive team.

Martini, a veteran CPG executive, will lead Trace One’s sales and customer development efforts in North America. Martini has spent 23 years in the CPG world working for companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Catalina Marketing, DemandTec and Symphony IRI Group. Trace One said Martini will leverage his knowledge of consumer demand, shopper insights, price and trade optimization and other go-to-market strategies in his new role as vp of North America.

Montvale, N.J. -- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) announced that company COO Paul Hertz has been appointed president and CEO, effective immediately. He succeeds Sam Martin. In January, A&P confirmed Martin’s departure.

Newport Beach, Calif. - Engaged Capital, an investment firm specializing in small and mid-cap North American equities and stockholder of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has retained an independent global professional services firm to assist Engaged Capital in setting a new direction for Abercrombie. The firm has decades of experience in the retail and apparel sector, including the turnaround and restructuring of underperforming businesses.

Outdoor retailer Cabela’s is bringing its smaller format, next-generation concept to the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville.

The store isn’t due to open until the fall of 2015 but Cabela’s tends to pre-announce store expansion plans well in advance of actual opening dates as its stores tend to be big news events in the communities where they are located.
Construction is expected to begin later this at Interstate 69 and Campus Parkway in the new Saxony Campus development adjacent to Hamilton Town Center.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal Inc. shrank its net loss to $27.5 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 from $85.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Net sales slipped 23% to $124.8 million from $161.6 million and same-store sales dropped 16%.

In recognition of shoppers’ desire for clean foods with minimal ingredients, Bumble Bee has introduced a new “Heritage Pack” with labeling reminiscent of the 1950s. Retailers may be inclined to say, “so what,” but there are several interesting aspects to the initiative.

Packaging changes among CPG companies are common in an industry where genuine innovation is hard to come by. So a new label, color scheme or pack size tends to elicit a big yawn from retailers.