Sales & Marketing

Alpharetta, Ga. – McAlister’s Deli has named Jeff Sturgis as chief development officer. Sturgis has more than 17 years of experience in the franchise industry, including working as a consultant as well as senior management and development positions with Fantastic Sams Hair Salons and Focus Brands.

Sturgis will lead development functions including franchise sales, real estate, store design and construction.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Domino’s Pizza begins a national campaign today promoting its enhanced online ordering profiles platform, allowing customers the ability to save information and reorder their favorite order in as little as five clicks, or about 30 seconds.

Customers who order at dominos.com can create their pizza profile by saving their favorite order, as well as address and payment information, then accessing the new 'Your Easy Order' and 'Your Recent Orders' sections in the future to reorder in as few as five clicks.

Retailers often assume that meeting the needs of the Millennial generation through technology is a highly specialized endeavor due to the unique experience these “digital natives” have had growing up in an IT-centric world. But before making that assumption, retailers should consider these words author Joyce Maynard, then a Yale freshman, wrote in her 1972 New York Times essay “An 18-Year-Old Looks Back on Life:”

East Moriches, N.Y. -- Solutions Management, a leading national retail and corporate maintenance company, announced the appointment of Michael DiTaranto as its new senior operations manager.

Solutions Management, a leading national retail and corporate maintenance company, has appointed Michael DiTaranto as the company’s senior operations manager.

SMI partners with retailers and corporations to provide maintenance services which include floor care, window cleaning, high dusting, power washing and janitorial services. Recovery services include emergency services, mold testing and remediation, flood restoration and fire restoration.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports has named Eric Hunter as executive VP of marketing, responsible for the company’s brand image and integrated marketing efforts. He most recently served as senior VP of marketing and acting chief marketing officer for J.C. Penney Co., where he led strategy, research, creative, media, customer relationship management and digital direction for the JCP enterprise brand and all JCP-owned brands.

New York -- Shaky consumer confidence and increased efficiencies among retailers may put a damper on retailers’ holiday hiring plans, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In its annual holiday hiring forecast, Challenger estimated that seasonal job gains will not see a significant decline from last year’s robust numbers, but they are likely to at best match the level of hiring that occurred in October, November, and December 2012.

Atlanta – Independent bookstores are reportedly growing sales at a healthy rate despite stiff competition from Amazon.com. According to an article in Fortune, American Booksellers Association figures show that independent bookstore sales in the U.S. grew 8% last year and are on track to grow at a similar pace this year.