Sales & Marketing

Projections calling for a low-to-mid single-digit comp increase at Target during May don’t sound overly aggressive, but when factoring in some of the economic headwinds and uncertainties facing the U.S. economy, the sales plan begins to sound more ambitious.

Consumers are dealing with higher fuel prices, food inflation and lingering unemployment. Where $4 a gallon gas prices are headed next is big unknown, but it is only May and historically prices increase during the summer. Ouch!

New York City -- Winick Realty Group said that An Pure Spa, an upscale nail and day spa, has leased its first New York City location at 207 Ninth Avenue.
       
The 1,965-sq.-ft. ground-floor space is accompanied by a 1,965-sq.-ft. basement.

PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle is celebrating its locally and regionally grown produce with a new multimedia video.

The retailer said that it is taking several steps to educate consumers on which fruits and vegetables at their peak season throughout the year and is further relaying this message through its multimedia video, which can be viewed on Giant Eagle's website.

New York City -- For the second month in a row, Best Buy had to tell customers that their email addresses were compromised.

The chain said that a former business partner’s files containing email addresses of some Best Buy customers were accessed without authorization. Best Buy said it would take legal action but it did not name the vendor involved.

City of Commerce, Calif. -- Los Angeles outlet shopping mall Citadel Outlets has named a new marketing team.
       
Traci Markel has been named marketing director and Simone O’Connor has been named marketing and special events manager.  The Citadel marketing team also includes Veronica Garzaro, marketing and domestic tourism manager, and Kristina Carlson, international tourism sales manager.
       

On average, across the retailer set, number of inserts decreased slightly while the number of pages increased on a year-over-year basis for the month of April. When reviewing front page category share of voice, candy experienced a strong increase in April 2011 compared with the same month in the prior year. This is no surprise as Easter fell later in the month in 2011, giving retailers the opportunity to advertise this category for more weeks throughout the month than in 2010. Other categories with notable increases in 2011 versus 2010 include household cleaning, digital TVs and toys.

NEW YORK — Good customer service sells, according to a new study conducted by American Express.

Boston -- Clothing and accessories retailer Metro Park has filed for bankruptcy and is closing all 69 stores nationwide.

The store closings and liquidations begin on May 6. Gordon Bros. Group and Hilco Merchant Resources are running the going-out-of business sales for the retailer.

Based in Los Angeles, Metro Park was founded in 2000. Specializing in upscale trendy fashions, Metro Park has been feeling the heat of increased competition from such fast-fashion retailers as H&M.