News

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — Leading home furnishings retailer Ikea has extended its partnership with ECOtality, a clean electric transportation and storage technologies company, and plans to add 24 Blink electric vehicle charging stations across eight more locations in the United States.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Workwear brand Carhartt is collaborating with vehicle seat cover protection manufacturer Covercraft to deliver Carhartt duck seat protection for pickups, SUVs, vans and over-the-road work trucks.

FREMONT, Calif. — Men’s Wearhouse is looking to find new homes for used men’s and women's business attire, including suits, and in the process, looking to generate foot traffic to its stores. 

The company has launched its sixth annual National Suit Drive and has set a goal to collect 150,000 gently used professional clothing items through July 31, to donate to unemployed men and women who are trying to re-enter the workforce. 

PITTSBURGH — GNC Holdings has elected former PetSmart CEO Robert Moran and former Midas CEO Alan Feldman to its board of directors.

"We are pleased to welcome Messrs. Moran and Feldman to the GNC board," stated Joseph Fortunato, GNC chairman, president and CEO. "Their extensive experience leading global consumer brands and retail operations, both domestically and overseas, and past experience as CEOs of retail businesses should add significant strength to our board as we execute our future strategies."

WASHINGTON — Lowe’s and the USO treated hundreds of servicemen and women and their families to an all-American event headlined by a charity grill-off at Nationals Park to thank the U.S. armed forces and celebrate the Fourth of July. 

Active-duty troops from each branch of the armed services grilled up burgers for the grilling competition.

Retailing Today will be closed Thursday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Have a happy and safe holiday, and look for our Daily Newsletter Friday, July 5.

MONROE, Mich. — La-Z-Boy has nominated Michael T. Lawton to serve a one-year term on the company's board of directors. La-Z-Boy shareholders will get to vote at the annual meeting, Aug. 21.

Walmart has begun the latest installment of its social media-inspired merchandising initiative known as, "Get on the Shelf."

The program, developed by the company’s digital think tank @WalmartLabs, affords entrepreneurs the ability to have their product featured on Walmart.com and possibly in select Walmart stores. The company issued an open call to anyone with an interesting product to enter between now and July 31 by submitting a video to https://getontheshelf.walmart.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Shop.org, the digital arm of the National Retail Federation, has re-elected Scot Wingo, co-founder and CEO of ChannelAdvisor, a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions for retailers and manufacturers, to its board of directors.

Wingo was re-elected to the 20-member board for another two-year term by existing Shop.org members along with executives from Belk, HSN, Razorfish, Tory Burch and Urban Outfitters. 

A carefully designed customer experience is the cornerstone of modern omni-channel customer relationship marketing. Retailers painstakingly craft marketing messages and engagement strategies that a customer will encounter at a specific time, in a specific place, via a specific channel. The experience often has some flexibility built in so it can adapt to individual customer behavior, wants and needs.