Sales & Marketing

Singapore – F.J. Benjamin Holdings Inc., a developer and manager of retail brands including Gap, Banana Republic and Guess, in Asia, has deployed the traffic intelligence application from Tyco Retail Solutions. The company sought a clear understanding of how the differently branded stores’ locations compared with each other, as well as the ability to track shopper conversion rates within each store.  

Kirkland, Wash. – Digital coupon provider VisibleBrands has added former Procter & Gamble VP Jan Murley to its board of directors, while former Safeway Stores board member Rebecca Stirn was added to the company’s advisory council.

Murley was a 23-year marketing veteran with Procter and Gamble and was the VP of its skin care division. Stirn was on Safeway’s board of directors from 1999 to 2010. She has more than two decades of executive marketing experience with a variety of industries.

The Hertz Corp. and Costco in the U.K. have teamed up to bring short-term Hertz 24/7 van rental to Costco's members.

The self-drive service operates at all 25 Costco warehouses in the U.K. Costco's members can hire a van from the warehouse car parks to drive their purchased items home immediately.

New York -- Traditional retail categories are increasingly blurring, and more and more shoppers are turning to drug stores and other types of outlets to buy groceries, according to a survey of Millenial, Gen X and Baby Boomer consumers. The study was conducted by retail design firm King Retail Solutions in conjunction with the University of Arizona Center for Retailing.

Vancouver, Canada – Amazon.com is the top digital Canadian retailer and U.S., retailers are generally outpacing their Canadian competitors in using digital channels such as online, mobile and social. According to the new “Chasm Retail 2.0” study from Chasm Digital, the top 10 digital retailers operating in Canada are:

1. Amazon
2. Best Buy
3. Home Depot
4. Sears
5. Lululemon
6. Costco
7. Chapters
8. London Drugs
9. Lowes
10. Canadian Tire

A week after rival Home Depot announced plans to 80,000 seasonal spring employees, Lowe’s announced its plans to hire approximately 25,000 seasonal employees at its U.S. stores for the busy spring season.

Seasonal jobs available are focused on customer support and include cashiers, lawn and garden employees, loaders and stockers.

Washington, D.C. - More Americans this year are expected to put their tax returns in the bank. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s Tax Returns Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 46% of those expecting a refund this year will put their money into savings, up from 44% last year and the highest percent in the survey’s history.

Ace Hardware’s unique value proposition allowed it to withstand strong competition from Home Depot and Lowe’s in 2013 and grow annual sales by a 8.2% to a record $4.2 billion.

“We outperformed our operating plan, exceeding $4 billion in consolidated revenues and $100 million in net income for the first time in our history,” said president and CEO John Venhuizen.

Net income was $104.5 million for fiscal 2013, an increase of $22.7 million, or 27.8%, compared with $81.8 million in fiscal 2012.