Sales & Marketing

Walnut Creek, Calif. – The percentage of retailers who consider their marketing department to be an owner of customer data has more than doubled in the past year. According to a new RSR Research survey, “Retail Marketing 2013: Organizational Drift,” 61% of 122 retail respondents surveyed online between May and July of this year listed marketing as a customer data owner, compared to 33% in 2012.

Toys"R"Us held a special preview event at its flagship location in NYC's Time Square. Speaking about the company's competitive advantages as it gears up for the holiday shopping season as well as the company’s omnichannel offerings and investments being made in its mobile capabilities were EVP and chief merchandising officer Richard Barry, as well as SVP and chief digital officer Fred Argir, respectively.

New York -- Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a controversial bill that would have required Wal-Mart Stores and other large retailers to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour. The bill applied only to retailers with stores of 75,000 sq. ft. or larger, at least $1 billion in annual sales and non-unionized workforces.

Staples is opening a dedicated e-commerce and engineering center in Seattle that will house teams responsible for driving major initiatives to enhance areas, including next generation digital platforms, personalization, and big-data. It will be the chain’s first office on the West Coast.

Ocean City, Md. — Fractured Prune Doughnuts has announced a national expansion projecting 50 new store agreements in the next six months. The next Fractured Prune www.fracturedprune.com will open in St. George, Utah, on Sept. 24.

The brightly colored doughnut shops promote always hot doughnuts, available all ways and offers 15 glazes and 15 toppings.

Arlington, Va. –The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has named Annette Guarisco as executive VP for public affairs, effective Oct. 1. Guarisco will oversee RILA’s federal and state government affairs, as well as the association’s communications efforts.

Guarisco joins RILA following more than 11 years as a senior executive at General Motors, most recently serving as executive director of global public policy.

Richfield, Minn. -- Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Best Buy Co., Inc., exercised and sold 350,467 stock options and sold 100,686 shares of company stock on Sept. 6. Joly sold the stock due to circumstances relating to his divorce that was concluded in June of this year.

“As reflected in the Form 4, Joly's holdings remain substantially in excess of his 140,000 share ownership target under the company's executive stock ownership guidelines following the reported transaction,” Best Buy said in a press release.

Pundits and the media have cast showrooming at various times as either a scourge to brick-and-mortar retailers or as a death knell — another proverbial nail in the coffin.

There’s no question that showrooming, where shoppers browse products in a store and then purchase online, is a threat to retailers like Target that have a significant investment in real estate and physical stores.

However, less publicized is the fact that showrooming is also the greatest opportunity for retailers.