Sales & Marketing

Virginia Beach, Va. — Peter Chang’s Chinese Bistro has leased a 6,030-sq.-ft. restaurant space at Landstown Commons in Virginia Beach, Va. Divaris Real Estate represented the landlord, Inland Diversified Real Estate, in the transaction. This will be Peter Chang’s sixth location in the region.

Ascena Retail Group has appointed Judith Langley as EVP and chief merchandising officer of Dressbarn.

“Judi is an outstanding merchant with deep specialty and large retail format experience. She will play a key role in the evolution of the Dressbarn brand and we are delighted to have her joining the team,” said David Jaffe, president and CEO of Ascena Retail Group.

Seattle -- Nordstrom plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at Magnolia Park in Greenville, S.C. The approximately 32,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in fall 2014.  Magnolia Park is being developed by Menin Development.   

The Magnolia Park Nordstrom Rack will be the company's first location in South Carolina.

Amazon.com is working with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver packages on Sunday, starting in the Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas, and plans to roll out the service to a large portion of the U.S. population, including Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix, in 2014.

Amazon Prime members, who receive unlimited, free two-day shipping, are eligible for the service.

Armonk, N.Y. -- Online retailers can expect a strong holiday shopping season. According to the latest IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, which analyzes online transactions from more than 800 retailers in the U.S., retail sales were up 16% in October and 11% in the first week of November (Nov. 1-Nov. 7) compared to the same period last year.

New York -- Procrastinating is out this year when it comes to holiday shopping, with most consumers (62%) planning to finish their gift buying on or before Dec. 16, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

As in most years, the top shopping day of the year is expected to be Black Friday. However, Cyber Monday will follow close behind across most demographic groups, overtaking Super Saturday as the second busiest holiday shopping day of the year.

Games, giveaways, book signings and personalized recommendations will be offered as part of “Discovery Friday,” event Barnes & Noble has planned for November 22 to pre-empt the doorbuster madness that will occur the following week on Black Friday.

New York -- Target Corp. has joined the growing ranks of retailers who will open earlier on Thanksgiving this year. The company said it is making the change in response to competitive pressure and demand from shoppers.

Target stores will open on 8 p.m. on the holiday, an hour earlier than last year. Stores will remain open throughout the night and close at 11 p.m. on the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 29.