News

J. Patrick Doyle, president and CEO of Domino’s Pizza, has been appointed to the board of directors of Best Buy.  

Doyle has joined Domino’s in 1997, serving in a variety of leadership roles across its domestic and international businesses. He has been president and CEO of Domino’s since March 2010.

Sales continued to decline at Office Depot in the third quarter, but CEO Roland Smith said excellent execution allowed operating profits to more than double.

Total company sales on a pro-forma basis to reflect the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax declined 3% to $4.1 billion during the period ended Sept. 27. The top line decline was steeper at the company’s 1,851 unit North American retail division where sales declined 7% to $1.7 billion due to store closures and a 3% same store sales decline driven by a reduced transaction volume. 

Glamour girl and a fashion mogul Paris Hilton has created a new fragrance to add to her $2 million fragrance portfolio.  A new scent With Love, Paris Hilton is dedicated to Hilton’s fans around the world.

From the scent to its gracefully designed bottle, With Love, Paris Hilton explores Hilton’s more sophisticated side, according to Harry Fremont, the perfumer of Firmenich fragrance house who created this new addition to Hilton’s fragrance collection.

New data from JLL’s 2014 Holiday Sentiment Report, which includes feedback from 800 largely national or global retailers in JLL-managed shopping centers across the United States, suggests retailers are optimistic about store performance, but are fighting the “survival of the fittest” match.  

New York --Forrester Research said Monday it expects U.S. online sales to reach $89 billion in November and December. That's up 13%, or about $10 billion, over a year ago. But Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru noted that the expected growth is not as high as it could be due to a few unique constraints, including fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and capacity constraints in the already constrained carrier networks.

New York -- Retail sales this holiday season will grow about 4%, according to a survey by brand loyalty and customer engagement consultancy Brand Keys.   In the 2014 Brand Keys Holiday Shopping survey, 54% of consumers indicated they were going to start holiday shopping in November, “a trend we’ve commented upon for a number of years,” said Brand Keys founder and president Robert Passikoff.    

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holiding Company joined the growing list of retailers with extended shopping hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.   Sears and Kmart stores will open on Thanksgiving Day, with Sears opening at its earliest time ever: 6 p.m, two hours earlier than last year. Kmart will open its doors for 42 hours straight, from 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving to midnight on Black Friday.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship in Manhattan will unveil its holiday window display and light show on Monday, Nov. 24. Presented by MasterCard, the show will integrate LEDs, strobes, up-lights, video projections and music.   

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- 360pi and JDA Software are partnering to optimize local pricing recommendations for retailers. This partnership integrates 360pi’s zone-based pricing intelligence for national and private label brands with JDA’s rules-based Strategic Pricing solution, part of JDA’s larger Price and Promotion Management portfolio.   

By Paul Rauker, VP of systems and controls at Daikin Applied