Sales & Marketing

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM on Thursday announced the creation of the IBM Customer Experience Lab, dedicated to helping business leaders transform the way customers experience their products, services and brands through the use of mobile, social, cloud and advanced analytics technologies.

The IBM Customer Experience Lab will provide CEOs, CMOs, CFOs, heads of sales and other C-suite executives direct access to a virtual team of 100 researchers, supported by the expertise of thousands of IBM business consultants addressing the opportunities of the digital front office.

SAN FRANCISCO — Target has agreed to buy Chefs Catalog from JH Partners, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in investing growth capital in consumer-focused companies. 

Chefs Catalog is a leading direct-to-consumer specialty retailer of top-rated cookware, bake ware, cutlery, kitchen tools and cooking utensils including such brands as All-Clad, Cuisinart and Kitchenaid.  JH Partners acquired Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Chefs Catalog from The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. in 2004. 

KEARNEY, Neb. — The Buckle announced that net income for the fiscal quarter was $61.4 million, or $1.29 per share ($1.28 per share on a diluted basis), compared with $56.1 million, or $1.19 per share ($1.18 per share on a diluted basis) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. Net income for the fiscal year was $164.3 million, or $3.47 per share ($3.44 per share on a diluted basis), compared with $151.5 million, or $3.23 per share ($3.20 per share on a diluted basis) for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012..

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — Lifetime Brands, maker of houseware and kitchen products under such brand names as Kitchenaid, Farberware and Cuisineart, reported that consolidated net sales for the fourth quarter were $154.8 million, an increase of 12.5%, as compared with consolidated net sales of $137.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Net income was $15.2 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, in the 2012 period, as compared with $5.4 million, or 43 cents per diluted share, in the prior-year period.

New York -- Google came out on top, followed by Amazon and Apple, in a new survey by market research company Ipsos called “The Most Influential Brands in the United States 2013.” The survey, which asked U.S. consumers to rate 100 leading brands on a wide variety of attributes, determined that the dimensions or factors that drive a brand’s influence are: engagement; trustworthy; leading edge; corporate citizenship; and, presence.

PHILADELPHIA — The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack has announced that Robert Rosenblatt and Andrea Weiss have joined its board of directors. With these appointments, Pep Boys has increased the current size of its board from seven to nine directors.

Minneapolis -- Scott Kennedy was named president of Target financial and retail service to replace long time finance executive Terry Scully.

Scully spent nearly 35 years with Target and is moving into a strategic advisory role to ensure the smooth transition of the recently sold credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group. Scully, 60, will officially retire in March 2014. Filling his shoes as head of financial and retail services is Scott Kennedy, 44. He joined Target in 2005 and currently serves as VP of pay and benefits.

ARMONK, N.Y. — IBM has opened its Customer Experience Lab in New York with the goal of helping business leaders transform the way customers experience their products, services and brands through the use of mobile, social, cloud and advanced analytics technologies. 

 IBM scientists and business consultants will co-create with clients to deliver systems that learn and personalize the experiences of each individual customer, identify patterns, preferences and create context from Big Data, and drive scale economics.