Sales & Marketing

Sport Chek has opened a digitally savvy flagship in the largest shopping mall in North America: West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada). The sporting goods retailer has woven interactive technology and digital installations throughout the 80,000-sq.-ft., two-level space, which is designed to offer an enhanced, personalized shopping experience that connects consumers to the sports they are passionate about.

Weis Markets has promoted Kurt Schertle, previously the company’s EVP, to COO.

Home appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer Haier America has chosen the northern New Jersey town of Wayne as the location of its new 56,000-sq.-ft. U.S. headquarters.

The new facility will be home to 200 employees, training centers, customer service operations and a product showroom where retailers can see new products and concepts. Renovations are currently underway on a building at 1800 Valley Road in Wayne, N.J., that will replace the company’s current office at 1356 Broadway in Manhattan this fall.

Hanover Direct aligns back-end systems for seamless front-end experience

The days of independent silos, of when the Web, phone, catalog and store could be operated separately each with its own unique customer experiences and fulfillment processes, are behind us. Today’s “always connected” consumers demand a seamless experience from the retailers they shop, regardless of channel. And that seamless experience requires extensive alignment of systems on the back end as well as the front end.

New York -- As technology transforms multichannel retail into hyper-channel, “always-on” retailing, chains must emotionally connect with consumers as never before, according to Joseph Bona. Bona, president of branded environments for New York City-based brand agency/retail design firm CBX, is one of the featured speakers at Chain Store Age’s upcoming 50th annual SPECS conference,  March 9 -12, Grapevine, Texas.

Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank may be inching closer to a deal. Men’s Wearhouse announced that it had reached a nondisclosure agreement with its rival, setting up talks that could lead to a merger of the two retailers.

The two firms announced they are exchanging certain confidential information with each other and working in good faith to evaluate a potential combination.

As part of the agreement, Jos. A. Bank submitted a draft of a merger agreement to Men’s Wearhouse.

As Kimberly-Clark continues to focus on driving global expansion, the company has made executive changes so it can execute its business goals.

Elane Stock, group president of Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP), has been elected group president of K-C International (KCI), and is succeeding Christian Brickman, who is leaving to pursue a senior executive officer position outside of K-C. Kim Underhill, currently president of K-C's European consumer business, has been elected president of KCP.

By Jeff Weidauer, VP of Marketing and Strategy, Vestcom International

Webster defines technology as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.” Put another way, technology is the use of knowledge that solves problems in a practical manner. It’s important to understand that, because when it comes to the concept of retail technology, history shows that too often the solution becomes a hammer looking for a nail.