News

Oak Brook, Ill. -- McDonald’s USA will answer questions from customers through a multichannel effort called “Our Food. Your Questions.” The company invites people to submit their food questions via social media.    McDonald’s will respond with behind-the-scenes webisodes and other social content that provides facts on ingredients, how food is made and how it’s prepared in restaurants.    

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation (NRF) is offering Retail Jobs Week the week of Oct. 13-17, a multi-faceted effort to push back against long-held misperceptions about working in the retail industry. Through this initiative, NRF aims to continue educating Washington lawmakers about the value retail jobs deliver for workers and the economy.  

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Plug and Play Tech Center is launching its first Retail and Brand Meetup on Wednesday, Oct.  22, starting at 5:30 pm PDT. The free event will feature a panel of marketing experts discussing the future of marketing and the importance of brands and retailers staying in touch with the customer at all touchpoint during a consumers path to purchase.    

By Gary Ambrosino, President and CEO of TimeTrade   Hidden in the onslaught of negative headlines about former retail heavyweights, like JC Penney and Sears, is a slew of less-publicized, good news from smaller—many formerly online-only—retailers that are not only weathering the storm but are thriving.   

By Dov Cohn

Bloomingdale's new store in Palo Alto, California, is the retailer's most digitally-sophisticated to date. From smart fitting rooms equipped with wall-mounted tablets to a digital-wallet system, the 125,00-sq.-ft. department store blends high-tech elements with a sleek, modern aesthetic. See Photos.

Delhaize America’s new CIO is confident the company will be able to drive sales growth by leveraging technology.

Retail technology veteran Michael Laurenti was named chief information officer at Delhaize America and will assume his new responsibilities on November 17. He most recently served as CIO at the privately held 300 unit Belk Department Stores chain. Prior to Belk, he worked at Family Dollar, Linens 'N Things and Toys "R" Us. Laurenti succeeds Deb Dixson who spent four years at Delhaize America and announced her departure earlier this year.

Plenty of retailers pay dividends, but none comes close to matching the track record of Stanley Black & Decker.

The company declared a 52 cent a share dividend for its fourth quarter and in so doing set a mark no retailer is likely to ever attain.

Online referral service provider Angie’s List plans to increase the size of its headquarters in Indianapolis and increase the workforce to 2,800 people within five years.

Angie’s List, a review drive enterprise that helps facilitate transactions between more than 2.8 million consumers and service providers in 720 categories, said it plans to grow its base of employees from 500 in 2011 to roughly 2,800 by 2019. The company said the expansion was enabled in part by an attractive incentive plan from the City of Indianapolis and State of Indiana.

Finish Line and IBM have created a new mobile app to enable the operator of more than 1,000 athletic footwear and apparel stores to fulfill its omnichannel vision.

Finish Line said the new app is focused on providing services and conveniences that reward its Winners Circle loyalty program customers with points and perks, reinforce brand interactions, improve customer service and sales and also provide  timely information about customers’ favorite product releases.