Sales & Marketing

WASHINGTON —The National Retail Federation announced that it is pleased with President Obama's efforts to implement three pending Free Trade Agreements. 

Menomonee Falls, Wis. — Kohl’s Corp. said Tuesday it will hire 40,000 seasonal workers for the 2011 holiday shopping period, about 5% more than in 2010.

The plan equates to about 35 additional associates per store at its 1,127 stores, each working about 20 hours per week.

In addition, Kohl's said it plans to hire 2,500 seasonal workers at DCs and 500 seasonal and full-time credit operations workers.

Atlanta -- First Data Corp. and Associated Bank said Tuesday that the companies have signed a long-term merchant services renewal agreement.

Through the agreement, First Data will continue to provide merchant processing services to the bank’s business clients nationwide, providing them access to a comprehensive line of electronic payment solutions, including acceptance of all major credit cards including PIN and signature-based debit cards, gift cards, customized reporting and electronic check verification services.

Boston -- Survey results released Tuesday by Shop.org showed that almost half of all retailers plan to offer eGifting this holiday season and 44% are looking at location-based deals as a key element of their mobile marketing strategies. 

The survey, sponsored by CashStar and conducted in September at the annual Shop.org Retail Summit in Boston, found a growing concern among retailers about the lack of personalization of gift cards. 

New York -- In a surprise announcement, Target said that Michael Francis, executive VP and chief marketing officer of Target Corp., has elected to leave the company.  In January, 2011, Francis was charged with overseeing with Target’s Canadian entrance. 

The retailer was short on specifics regarding Francis’ departure. 

"We would like to thank Michael for his many contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavors" said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO, in a statement. 

Sunderland, Vermont --The Orvis Company has launched iPhone and Android rich apps powered by mobile commerce provider Digby. The apps complement all of Orvis’ cross-channel touch points including retail stores, e-Commerce, catalogs, and a mobile-optimized website, which is also powered by Digby.  

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax Inc. has launched new checkout terminals in more than 100 stores that harness Google Wallet to enable customers to pay, redeem coupons and reap the benefits of OfficeMax's MaxPerks Rewards loyalty program, all with a tap of their mobile phones. The chain is the first national office supply retailer to accept mobile payments through Google Wallet, which is a partnership between Google, MasterCard Worldwide, Citigroup Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and First Data Corp.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company is teaming up with the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN)  to launch a “Create Jobs for USA” fund. 

Starting Nov.1, the new initiative will pool donations from Starbucks customers, partners (employees) and citizens into a nationwide fund for community business lending. One-hundred percent of the donations will go toward loans for firms and organizations that can add jobs or stem job losses, Starbucks said.