News

Avon EVP and CFO Kimberly Ross, who joined the company in 2011, has resigned effective Oct. 2. VP and corporate controller Robert Loughran will be appointed acting CFO while the company finds a permanent replacement.

Barnes and Noble continues to narrow its losses. In the first quarter of fiscal 2015, the company’s comparable sales were bolstered by improving physical book industry trends, merchandising initiatives and store promotions.

Maurices, a subsidiary of the Ascena Retail Group, announced that Ali Wing has been named chief marketing officer, executive VP of digital commerce. Wing joins Maurices after 10 years as CEO and founder of giggle, a multichannel retailer, wholesaler and licenser of baby products.

Tilly’s, a leading specialty retailer in the action sports industry selling clothing, shoes, and accessories, has enlisted visual search platform Slyce to assist it in the creation of Tilly's Snap Shop.

The service leverages Slyce visual search technology to enable users to access the retailer’s mobile website on their smartphones, snap photos of desired items within any of Tilly's seasonal collection catalogs and purchase the item directly at the moment of impulse.

Maxwell House has launched a sponsored digital content series called "Made Right Here," that showcases “made-in-America” stories as part of its efforts to rejuvenate the brand and tap into a new generation of coffee drinkers.

Produced in partnership with Coolfire Studios and Mr. Here Productions, "Made Right Here" features the people behind products manufactured all across the country, from the small sheds and workshops of artists to large gleaming factories run by assembly lines.

Francesca's saw improvement in sales trends for its apparel, accessories and gift categories in the second quarter of 2014. But these were offset by weak jewelry sales, which took a bite out of the retailer’s gross profit.

Mobile payments are likely to take a giant step forward with Apple’s unveiling of Apple Pay, a new mobile payment platform built into the company’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The platform will also work with the new Apple Watch, extending the service to over 200 million owners of iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s worldwide.

Apple has unveiled its much anticipated Apple Watch featuring revolutionary new technologies and a pioneering user interface that could change the face of wearable health devices with a specially designed and engineered Digital Crown that provides an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate.
 

Five Below has signed a lease for a new distribution center in Oldmans Township, New Jersey. The 1,045,000-sq.-ft. facility, located at 5 Gateway Blvd. in Pedricktown, will replace the company's existing 421,000-sq.-ft. facility located 12 miles away in New Castle, Delaware.

New York -- Omnichannel retailer Century Martial Arts will share insights on how it leverages business intelligence to better monitor and engage with customers during a Chain Store Age webcast on Tuesday, September 23, at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT). Sponsored by Microsoft Dynamics, the presentation will take BI from buzz word to a “getting down to business” strategy and discuss how to elevate reporting to real intelligence – and actionable insight.