Sales & Marketing

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers, Inc. has officially broken ground on its new Taubman Prestige Outlets Chesterfield project by hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on July 27.

As part of the ceremony, Taubman revealed a variety of store names that will make their debuts at the new outlet mall, among them Banana Republic Factory Store, Gap Outlet, J. Crew Factory, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, 2b Bebe, American Eagle Outfitters - Off Campus, and Sunglass Hut.

New York -- Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, is recruiting a team of managers to run the company should his attempt to take the company private be successful, according to a report by Bloomberg.

“He is talking to people he trusts. There is a small group he’d like to have with him in righting the ship,” J.D. Wilson, senior VP of enterprise capabilities, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Wilson said his position is being eliminated as part of Best Buy’s planned cutbacks.

Newport Beach, Calif. -- JustEnough Software, a provider of demand management solutions for retailers, distributors and brand owners worldwide, announced that Five Below has selected its merchandise financial planning solution.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — O'Reilly Auto Parts reported that sales for its second quarter ended June 30 increased $84 million, or 6%, to $1.56 billion from $1.48 billion for the
same period one year ago. The company posted a 9% increase in net income to $146 million from $134 million for the same period last year. Diluted earnings per common share for the second quarter increased 20% to $1.15 on 127 million shares versus 96 cents for the same period one year ago on 140 million shares.

New York -- Modell's Sporting Goods has added a mobile component to its MVP loyalty program. The sporting goods retailer is using Key Ring Reward Cards’ mobile coupon and customer acquisition platform to introduce mobile into its loyalty marketing mix for its 150 retail locations.

Walmart and Target should see an influx of parents in the coming months, as both retailers topped the list of where consumers plan to do most of their back-to-school shopping this year, according to The NPD Group.

NPD asked the the open-end question:  “Where do you plan to do most of the back to school shopping for your child(ren)?" Out of 1,760 mentions of retailers where parents plan to do back to school shopping on behalf of their kids, Walmart secured 36% of them, followed by Target at 20%.

Washington -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program launched the 2012 National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings with a record 3,200 buildings across the country going head to head to improve energy efficiency, lower utility costs and protect health and the environment.

BURLINGTON, Mass. — Alco Stores has selected OrderMotion's OMX platform to provide the back office technology to serve its new e-commerce site.