Sales & Marketing

New York -- J.C. Penny will eliminate the jcp menswear brand and reduce the assortments in its Joe Fresh, Michael Graves and Martha Stewart lines, Reuters reported. All four brands were introduced by former CEO Ron Johnson. Penney plans to use the resulting space to emphasize its exclusive private-label brands.

Amazon.com is the most popular U.S. online retail site when it comes to having Web content shared on Pinterest in the run up to Christmas 2013.

In a study of 10 top US retail sites, images and pages from Amazon.com are being shared most frequently on Pinterest, with Walmart and Apple taking second and third positions, respectively. According to a study conducted by digital marketing software and services specialist Searchmetrics, content from Amazon.com currently generates 16,360 pins per week, Walmart generates 5,778 pins per week and Apple generates 3,871.

Charlotte, N.C. — A 75,000-sq.-ft. Belk will anchor the Juban Crossing lifestyle center in Livingston Parish, La., in the fall of 2014. Construction of the $7 million store will begin in February.

San Francisco -- Retail in the coming year will be more streamlined and integrated with online experiences, according to predictions from POS software provider Revel Systems.

In 2014, Revel Systems predicts the following industry advancements will begin to take shape:

Retail sales in November increased a better-than-expected 0.7% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The figure includes categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.

Analysts were expecting sales to rise 0.6% in last month. The latest retail sales numbers were 4.7% above November 2012 numbers.

Sydney, Australia – Australian apparel retailer General Pants is rolling out interactive kiosks fusing music, fashion and social media to create a shopping experience to guide, inform and entertain consumers via Apple iPad device displays. The launch is the result of more than six months of development to create an omni-channel platform that merges the online and offline shopping experience.

M&M'S World Las Vegas is celebrating the recent opening of its new candy wall — the largest M&M'S candy wall in the world — with a 3-D representation of the wall designed on the sidewalk outside the store.

M&M'S World Las Vegas has partnered with the We Talk Chalk art group to create the three-dimensional chalk rendering.

The wall itself spans more than 62 ft. wide and includes 125 tubes of colorful M&M'S, offering 22 varieties and 11 flavors.

Wolverine Worldwide has appointed Gina R. Boswell to the company's board of directors.

Boswell is EVP, personal care, for global food, personal care and household products company Unilever. She has held numerous senior leadership positions with other leading global companies, including Avon Products, Ford Motor Company and Estée Lauder Companies.