News

Boston – The top five brand experience trends for 2014 include retail relevancy and “small data,” according to brand experience agency Jack Morton. The company predicts the following five trends will prove dominant in brand experience during the upcoming year.

SodaStream International named veteran entertainment industry executive Scott Guthrie as regional general manager of the Americas reporting directly to CEO Daniel Birnbaum.

Kimberly-Clark Professional has named Tim Feeheley as VP of Kimberly-Clark Professional North America. Feeheley succeeds Richard Thorne, who recently was chosen to lead Kimberly-Clark Professional's Asia-Pacific Region.

Disposition firm: A&G Realty Partners

Number of properties: 600

Locations: 95% in strip centers, with the balance in middle market malls across the United States

Status: A&G successfully terminated more than 300 leases. The balance had natural lease expirations.

Canadian retailer Jersey City unifies store and online operations

Chicago -- Shoppers visited more stores and spent more money across the days of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday (Nov. 28 and 29) than they did last year, according to ShopperTrak.

When compared to Thanksgiving and Black Friday last year, brick-and-mortar shopper traffic increased 2.8%, to more than 1.07 billion store visits. Retail sales also increased by 2.3%, as shoppers spent an estimated total of $12.3 billion across the two days.

Sears will be participating in KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2013, Friday, Dec. 6 at LA Live in Los Angeles. The main event will include a Sears Style fashion show in the Jingle Ball Village.

While owners and developers are redeveloping, expanding and beginning to plan new developments across the Northeast, property surpluses created by the recession remain. Where are these surpluses? How will they be disposed of? Chain Store Age asked Andy Graiser, co-president of A&G Realty Partners, to talk about disposition today in the Northeast. Graiser is a property disposition expert with more than 25 years of experience with retail real estate.

Characterize surplus retail real estate in the Northeast.