News

Off-price department store retailer Gordmans Stores is still without a full-time CEO, but the retailer did just fill two key marketing and e-commerce positions.

The Omaha-based apparel and home decor retailer named Amy Starr Myers to the role of SVP of marketing and Stacey Townsend was named vp and general manager of e-commerce to launch Gordman’s online sales effort.

The Running Specialty Group, an operating segment of the Finish Line, has appointed Scott Goodmon as VP, store operations. Goodmon will lead the group’s nearly 800 employees serving the running community nationwide. He will report directly to Running Specialty Group president Bill Kirkendall.

Acosta Sales & Marketing, a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry, has reported that more than 30 national leading consumer brands and 100 grocery retail banners have pledged to support this generation of veterans by participating in the 2014 Wounded Warrior Project Believe in Heroes campaign.

Believe in Heroes benefits Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors.

Sears Holdings has named Kristin M. Coleman as SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary. Coleman most recently served as Brunswick Corporation's VP, general counsel and corporate secretary.

New York -- Online menswear brand Bonobos has raised a total of $55 million in venture capital funding, bringing the brand's total funding to $128 million. The company plans to use a large part of the latest investment to quadruple its physical store count, growing from 10 locations to 40 nationwide by 2016, The New York Times reported.

Vancouver – Lululemon Athletica Inc. is reportedly considering going private. According to the Wall Street Journal, advisors to Chip Wilson, founder, director and former CEO and chairman of Lululemon, have been speaking with private equity firms including Leonard Green & Partners about possibly taking the retail chain private, although no specific deal is imminent.
   

Deerfield, Ill. – Same-store sales at both Walgreens and Rite Aid increased in June, compared to the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales grew 7.5% at Walgreens and 3.9% at Rite Aid.

Calendar day shifts helped boost same-store sales at Walgreens, while the introduction of new generic drugs had a negative impact. In addition, Walgreens had June sales of $6.28 billion, an increase of 8.9% from $5.77 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Menlo Park, Calif. – Facebook has agreed to acquire LiveRail, an advertising technology company that helps companies serve better ads in the videos that appear on their websites and apps. LiveRail, founded in 2007, also provides marketers with access to premium video inventory and data to help decide where to show their ads.

Seattle – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reportedly drafted a complaint against Amazon.com regarding what it says have been millions of dollars in unauthorized in-app purchases by children using Amazon devices. According to Reuters, the FTC wants to Amazon to make refunds of unauthorized child purchases of digital goods and services within existing apps downloaded by their parents, as well as compensate the FTC for court costs.