Sales & Marketing

SUFFERN, N.Y. — Ascena Retail Group has named Dirk Montgomery as its new EVP and CFO.

Current EVP and CFO Armand Correia is retiring after 21 years with the specialty retailer, which offers clothing, shoes and accessories for missy and plus-size women and tween girls, under the Justice, Lane Bryant, Maurices, Dressbarn and Catherines brands.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- American Apparel, which launched a new Oracle e-commerce platform in the fall, has continued to deliver an increase in e-commerce sales, with a more than 38% increase over the same period last year. December 2012 sales increased more than 59% over December 2011, with December coming in as the highest sales month in the history of the company’s online business.

New York -- Due to the holiday rush and related closings, Chain Store Age extended the deadline for its 31st annual Retail Store of the Year Design Competition until Tuesday, January 8, 2013. Eligible projects are those completed between November 2011 and December 2012.

More than 20 categories are featured, ranging from supermarkets and discount/mass merchants to specialty stores and pop-up stores. Entries may be submitted by retailers, designers, architects or suppliers.

With all of the pre-holiday buzz and widely optimistic sales projections, anything other than a blockbuster 2012 holiday shopping season was bound to be a letdown. Few expected the numbers that came out just before Christmas: Both MasterCard and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that sales for the holiday season at that point were up just 0.7%. This was far below the robust predictions that many analysts and observers made before the shopping season was underway (most often between 3%-6%).

Procter & Gamble name Macy’s chairman, president and CEO Terry Lundgren as the newest member of its board of directors.

Lundgren fills a position vacated by current P&G Director Johnathan Rodgers who is not seeking re-election when P&G’s holds its annual shareholder meeting in October.

St. Louis -- Famous Footwear, a division of Brown Shoe Co., said Tuesday it has selected Cincinnati-based Empower MediaMarketing as its media agency of record.

Empower will work with Famous Footwear to reach its target customer, as well as to help drive sales online and in-store.
 
“The landscape of paid, owned and earned media continues to change, and Famous Footwear needs to make sure its marketing efforts are effective and efficient,” said Amy Rose, media manager, Famous Footwear.

WASHINGTON — National Retail Federation and the University of Phoenix will award ten current retail employees in the U.S. a Dream BIG scholarship.

Each of the ten recipients will receive full tuition at any University of Phoenix campus or online program, to encourage them to pursue career opportunities within the retail industry.

By Raymond Florio, [email protected]