Data & Analytics

LOS ANGELES — Specialty sporting goods retailer Sports Chalet is sticking to an innovative plan that helps retain existing customers while enhancing its brand awareness. The retailer is inviting certified Scuba divers to participate in its Treasure Hunt dive for the fourth consecutive year. 

Roanoke, Va. -- Advance Auto Parts has promoted Donna Justiss to the position of senior VP and chief information officer. Justiss will be responsible for the strategic leadership of all aspects of Advance’s information technology area, including application development and support, infrastructure and information security.

New York -- Luxury department store operator Neiman Marcus Inc. on Monday disclosed plans for a proposed public offering of up to $100 million.

The retailer’s plan, announced in a regulatory filing, comes some eight years after it was acquired for $5.1 billion by private equity firms TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus. In its filing, Neiman Marcus indicated a desire to expand its outlet center concept, Last Call, which currently operates 35 locations.

China -- China once again topped the A.T. Kearney’s 2013 Retail Apparel Index, which measures the market readiness of developing economies for international apparel retailers to enter. Other compelling expansion opportunities are offered by a number of countries from Latin America and the Middle East.

North Plainfield, N.J. -- A cooler start to spring and mixed-bag of Memorial Day weekend weather in the Northeast may have contributed to less than expected year-to-date sales and traffic for some retailers, according to Levin Management’s annual mid-year Retail Sentiment Survey, which polled retailers in the firm’s 90-property, 12.5 million-square-foot shopping center portfolio.
 

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties announced the launch of a partnership with Tesla Motors to install Tesla Supercharging stations at several CBL Malls across the country. Tesla is building a network of stations that will eventually enable Tesla owners to drive coast to coast in their electric vehicles.

Bolingbrook, Ill. -- Ulta Beauty has selected Mary Dillon, the president and CEO of U.S. Cellular, as CEO, effective July 1, 2013. She replaces Dennis K. Eck, who has been serving as interim CEO of Ulta since CEO Chuck Rubin left to head up Michaels.

Dillon, 52, who will also become a member of Ulta’s board, has served in the top spot at U.S. Cellular since 2010. Previously, she was global chief marketing officer and executive VP for McDonald's Corp.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Coldwater Creek has deployed Oracle Retail’s suite of integrated merchandise planning and optimization solutions as part of a strategic initiative to increase full-price selling and improve the productivity and profitability of store, online and catalog channels. The women’s apparel retailer is using the new planning solutions to reduce aged inventory and ensure that popular items are consistently in stock.

Many socioeconomic pundits have bemoaned the trend in modern education and childrearing toward creating an artificially level playing field where everyone gets a participant ribbon for everything they do, regardless of how much effort they put in or how good (or bad) the results are.

By Mohammad Hashemi, [email protected]