Sales & Marketing

Hampstead, Md. – The board of directors of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. has officially rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from The Men’s Wearhouse. The offer, which expires March 28, 2014, is worth $57.50 per share, or about $1.6 billion.

Jos. A. Bank called the offer “inadequate and opportunistic” in announcing its rejection.

Stater Bros. Markets, has promoted John Ciraulo to the position of VP of the meat division. He replaces Kevin Schubert, who will retire in March after 39 years of service.  

Ciraulo has been at Stater Bros. for 28 years and has progressed through a range of both retail and marketing positions. In his new position, he will oversee the marketing and retail operations of the company's meat and seafood divisions.

Ciraulo will report to EVP of marketing Dennis McIntyre.

By Netta Kelvis, head of marketing, Custora

[Editor’s Note: Custora has released its Holiday 2013 E-Commerce Recap, which is based on the company’s real-time dashboard aggregating data from over 100 U.S. retailers. Here's a blog post by Custora’s head on marketing summarizing the recap's highlights.]  

Jelly Belly Candy Company is set to launch a new flavor to its collection: the Draft Beer Jelly Belly jelly bean. Jelly Belly will debut the new flavor at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and ISM in Cologne, Germany.

The beer flavor has been a popular request by consumers for decades, according to the company.

"This took about three years to perfect," Ambrose Lee, research and development manager for Jelly Belly Candy Company, said. "The recipe includes top secret ingredients, but I can tell you it contains no alcohol."

Walnut Creek, Calif. – Retailers are most likely to use data for planning, but a majority of retailers do not have a long-term enterprise business intelligence (BI) strategy in place that meets their needs. According to a new study from RSR Research, “Retail Analytics Moves to the Frontline,” 57% of retailers think planning and executing more effectively is a top use of data, followed by managing customer relationships (47%) and reporting results of business activities (44%).

Hhgregg is offering online ordering with in-store pickup for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad and iPod models and Apple TV devices.

The move comes just a couple of weeks following the retailer’s preliminary third-quarter results which revealed poor performance in the consumer electronics and wireless categories and were below the company’s expectations.

In its PizzaRev case study series, CSA Online offers an insider’s look at the conception, initial rollout and growth of the southern Calif.-based fast-casual concept PizzaRev. Likened to “the Chipotle of pizza,” this innovative chain lets customers choose from an artisanal array of toppings to craft their own pizzas very quickly in a high-end stone hearth oven.

Overstock.com has reason to celebrate after a district court in Salt Lake City, Utah, ruled in the online retailer’s favor, denying breach of contract and other claims for damages of $1.7 million.

The company said that in Haddadin v. Overstock, two brothers asserted they were entitled to damages of $1.7 million, plus future royalties, when the it contracted with Ed and Ayman Haddadin for the creation of an auto sales store on the e-tailer's website.