Sales & Marketing

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Sears Holdings has joined other retailers, including Barnes & Noble, in inviting Amazon.com affiliates to work with it following Amazon's response to recent legislation related to collected taxes on e-commerce purchases.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores launched its strategic alignment with Marketing Management, Inc. (MMI) in front of more than 100 key suppliers at the company's Private Brand Summit Thursday in Charlotte, N.C. Through this exclusive on-site alignment, MMI will assist Family Dollar with private brand sourcing, product development, category analytics, assortment strategy, quality assurance and customer insights.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart said Thursday that it is increasing its annual dividend 21% on the back of strong earnings.

The retailer last month reported a 27% increase in fourth-quarter net income as it benefited from cost-cutting and strong international sales. Walmart said it will pay an annual dividend this year of $1.46, up from $1.21. It will pay quarterly dividends of 36.5 cents in April, June, September and January in fiscal 2012, which ends Jan. 31.

The next dividend will be paid on April 4 to shareholders of record on March 11.

NEW YORK — EcoTools, an earth-friendly bath and beauty products brand, has made its way to Walmart.

Last month, a variety of EcoTools cosmetic brushes lined the shelves of Walmart stores throughout the country. EcoTools also introduced the EcoTools everyday collection 6-piece brush set exclusively at Walmart. The collection, which comes in a hemp case, includes an angled blush brush, an angle eyeliner brush, concealer brush, eye shading brush and detailer/lip brush. The 6-piece set retails for $10.98.

New York City -- Harris Corp. and Digital Display Networks are bringing one of the largest digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising networks in the United States -- 7-Eleven TV -- to full nationwide deployment.

Pompano Beach, Fla. -- Winn Dixie Stores has contracted Green Secure Solutions to clean, sanitize and protect shopping carts, hand baskets, handicap carts, food trays and other equipment at the grocer’s 484 stores.

Walmart executives will take to the road next week to speak at two investor conferences where it would seem unlikely that little if any new information will be shared since the conferences are just two weeks removed from the release of Walmart’s fourth-quarter results.

New York City -- Building upon the momentum in retail real estate in the recovering economy, Chain Store Age has debuted a new community-oriented “micro-site” for retail real estate executives and shopping center developers. Called “Community” and accessible from chainstoreage.com, the new site offers such features as project of the week, mall marketing spotlight, and bylined articles from industry experts.