Sales & Marketing

By Paul Kinney, [email protected]

Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges are a headache for commercial tenants of all sizes. Unfortunately, overcharges make the management of CAM expenses a major problem for retail tenants. Responding to the CAM overcharge hot button, the National Retail Tenants Association (NRTA) has once again made CAM management a key topic of its education curriculum of its annual conference planned for this September in Orlando.

Target ended last year with sales of $67.4 billion and earnings per share of $4, but company chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel believes sales will hit $100 billion and earnings will double to $8 a share within six or seven years.

New York City -- Local 1-S of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union announced that more than 4,000 union workers at Macy's Manhattan flagship and three other New York locations have voted to strike if a new contract is not reached by midnight on Wednesday.

The other stores are in the Bronx, Queens and Westchester County.

CINCINNATI — Kroger has named Reuben Shaffer chief diversity officer, effective immediately. Shaffer will report to Kroger's chairman and CEO, David Dillon.

Shaffer, 60, has been serving as the VP retail operations for the Cincinnati/Dayton division. He began his career with Kroger in 1988 and has held various leadership positions in the organization.

New York City -- Chain Store Age will hold a Webinar on Tuesday, June 14, at 2 p.m., ET (11 am PT) on how Best Buy has streamlined its business with the help of a master data management solution from IBM. Register today and take a chance to win a free iPad.

Learn from Best Buy how the company has realized several advantages, including ensuring that data is accurate and consistent across all selling channels and improved the customer experience across the same, by deploying the IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management (MDM) solution.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma said Monday that it will offer international shipping across its brands. The chain is partnering with FiftyOne Global Ecommerce, a leading provider of international e-commerce services and infrastructure to U.S. retailers.

Customers in more than 75 countries are now able to shop online for Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids products, the company said. The same service for West Elm and Williams-Sonoma should launch by the end of the month.

With Father’s Day approaching, General Growth Properties has rolled out a mall promotion that invites shoppers to “check in” to their local GGP mall using Foursquare for a chance to win a trip to the 82nd MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field in Phoenix.

When shoppers “check-in” through Foursquare, they receive a link to enter the sweepstakes, which includes four tickets to the MLB All-Star Game on July 12, $1,000 in Shop Etc. Mall Gift Cards and a hotel stay and golf outing at the AAA Four-Diamond, all-suite Arizona Grand Resort.

They are however interested in which political candidates and trade associations receive political donations from the company and what the decision-making process is behind those donations. At least it’s what anyone who attended or listened to a webcast of the company’s shareholders’ meeting last week is left to conclude after listening to the line of questioning that followed prepared remarks by Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.