Sales & Marketing

Hill's Science Diet has embarked on a Vets Know Best tour as part of a marketing campaign showcasing the brand’s revamped formulas and packaging for many of its pet foods. 

By Laura Wheeler DeYonker, AbsolutData

Recent data from Harris Poll shows that weaknesses in retailers’ pricing, product information and customer service strategies lead 43% of customers to showroom — creating a situation where brick-and-mortar retailers incur all the sales costs and online retailers make the sale.

Toys “R” Us is preparing for the holiday season with plans to hire 45,000 employees to staff its stores and distribution centers nationwide. This number is basically flat from last year’s holiday staffing totals.

Boston — Marketing analytics firm Dunnhumby Tuesday announced it has launched Dunnhumby Ventures, an investment firm that will focus on financing retail technology start-ups.  

The company said the new venture will fund startup businesses that are embracing data for innovations along the consumer’s path to purchase. Average initial investments will be $100,000 to $500,000.

Denver — Forecasting a brisk pace for investor activity in the Denver commercial real estate market due to growth in the oil/gas and technology industries, Jones Lang LaSalle has announced the appointment of industry veterans Patrick Devereaux and Jason Schmidt as investment sales experts in the Rocky Mountain region. The two join JLL as executive VPs.

With more than 20 years of experience as an industrial broker, Devereaux previously served as senior director in the Capital Markets Group at a national brokerage.

San Francisco – Williams-Sonoma retail brand PBTeen is opening its second store in the Chicagoland area in Oakbrook, Ill., on Sept. 26. The store will operate as a combined location with sister brand Pottery Barn Kids.

Atlanta – David’s Bridal is using omnichannel solutions from Manhattan Associates to ensure on-time and accurate delivery of customer orders from across its network. The company is using Manhattan’s order management solution to orchestrate both customer and store replenishment orders to ensure reliable fulfillment.

VeriFone Systems, a leading global secure electronic payments provider, has appointed Paul Galant as the company’s CEO and elected him to its board of directors, effective Oct. 1.

Prior to joining VeriFone, Galant served as the CEO of Citigroup Inc.’s Enterprise Payments business since 2010. Before that, from 2009, Galant served as CEO of Citi Cards, heading Citigroup’s North American and International Consumer Credit Cards business during a period of dramatic change in the industry. Prior to that, from 2007, he was CEO of Citi Transaction Services.