Sales & Marketing

I visited my first Von Maur store in 1999, a decade after I relocated from southern boomtown Atlanta to Lincoln, Neb., a sleepy college town that only really wakes up on Husker football Saturdays. Today I am back home in Baton Rouge, La., still no bustling metropolis, but the food and football trump.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The sun shined favorably this month on PriceSmart, which operates 31 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and one U.S. territory.

For the month of April 2013 net sales increased 11% to $176 million from $159 million in April a year earlier. For the eight months ended April 30, net sales increased 11% to $1,484 million from $1,337 million for the eight months ended April a year earlier. There were 30 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of April 2013 and 29 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of April 2012.

PHOENIX — Reality television star and Poison frontman Bret Michaels is bringing the eighties back to PetSmart with the Pets Rock collection, a line which has expanded to a throwback, neon-inspired line of apparel, toys and accessories for dogs.

York, Pa. -- The Bon-Ton Stores announced it will close its Younkers store in the Rapids Mall in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

The company will not renew the lease, which terminates July 31, 2013. The closing will impact approximately 45 associates at this location.

The Bon-Ton acquired the leasehold interests in the Wisconsin Rapids store as part of the Northern Department Store Group acquisition in 2006. The department store retailer said it does not expect costs associated with the closing of the location to be material.  

Editor's Note: Chain Store Age's 24th annual survey of Fastest-Growing Managers measures new domestic and international third-party management and leasing contracts obtained during the preceding calendar year (2012).

Last year's numbers were such that we couldn't limit our annual Fastest-Growing third-party managers listing to a top five; a sixth was added because the contract totals were that close.

After a successful pilot, Best Buy Canada is expanding its use of fully integrated, enterprise mobile point (mPOS) solutions on its selling floor. The new, tablet-based technology has improved customer service, including reducing checkout times, and staff productivity.

Go offline, young man: That appears to be the mantra of e-commerce merchants these days.

As competition in the world of online retailing heats up — with Amazon's ever-burgeoning dominance posing the biggest threat — more pure-players are taking the brick-and-mortar plunge. It's a reminder, many experts say, of the strong appeal of the in-store experience — even when stacked up against the convenience of online shopping.

Young chefs are opening restaurants in urban neighborhoods

In New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Denver — and other major cities across the country — creative young chefs are opening their own restaurants.

"In New York, the trend isn't all that new. Think of Andre Soltner, Jean-Georges, David Chang and others," said Faith Hope Consolo, noted trend-watcher and chairman of Douglas Elliman's Retail Group in New York City.