News

Cambridge, Mass. -- Highland Consumer Partners, a growth-stage venture capital firm focused on the consumer sector, announced that retail executive Marty Hanaka joined the firm in August of this year as an operating partner.

Hanaka most recently was the interim CEO of Guitar Center, from January 2013 to April 2013.  

Previously, he served as the chairman of Golfsmith International Holdings, from April 2007 to November 2012, and was CEO from June 2008 to November 2012.   

Build-A-Bear Workshop has appointed Voin Todorovic as its new CFO, reporting to CEO Sharon John.

"Voin has a solid background in linking financial goals and business objectives. I am excited to have him join the team as we continue to evolve our business model to leverage the strength of the Build-A-Bear brand to drive toward the Company’s stated objectives of sustainable, profitable growth,” said John.

New York -- Sears Holdings Corp. said in regulatory filing that it would borrow $400 million from the hedge fund of its CEO, Edward Lampert, who is also the company’s largest shareholder.  

Sears received the first $200 million of the loan from Lampert's ESL Investments on Monday, and expects to receive the remaining amount on Sept. 30.

The company said it would use the money for “general corporate purposes.

By Howard W. Herndon, BlackLine Payments Advisors

While much of the attention at this week’s Apple press conference was on the iPhone 6 and the company’s new smartwatch, we believe — along with many industry analysts — that the most important news of the splashy event was Apple Pay, the company’s new mobile payments system.

Goya Foods plans to open a state-of-the-art distribution center in Georgia to aid with the expansion of their business in the southeast region.

Located at 4005 Haworth Pkwy., in McDonough, the facility will be officially inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 17, between 10:30 a.m. and 2p.m. McDonough’s Mayor Billy Copeland will be present for the ceremony.

Austin, Texas -- Revionics announced that Niemann Foods, a chain of grocery, pet food, hardware, pharmacies and gas stations in the Midwest, has selected Revionics as its price optimization provider.

Revionics will be providing Niemann Foods with their SaaS-based price optimization solution, which includes robust price management, science-based optimization, forecasting, simulation and effectiveness measurement.

Milford, Conn. -- Subway announced that it will launch NFC-based mobile payments nationwide on Oct. 1 with Softcard, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Verizon Wireless. It is one of the largest deployments of mobile payment capability in the country, Subway said.

San Francisco - Tapcentive has launched its NFC- and BLE-connected Touchpoint devices for use with its cloud-based Mobile Engagement Platform. Tapcentive Touchpoints offer marketers visible, interactive engagement technology for driving consumer awareness and influencing in-location behavior.