News

Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) has partnered with the Kellogg Company to become a primary sponsor on the number 10 Indy car driven by Dario Franchitti, winner of last week’s Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and a three-time Izod IndyCar Series champ.

Franchitti will pilot the number 10 Kellogg’s Honda Dallara for TCGR in round four of the Izod IndyCar Series in Brazil at the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle on May 1 and in round 14 at the Baltimore Grand Prix on Sept. 4.

LOS ANGELES -- Creative Channel Services announced that it has significantly expanded its partnership with Sears Holdings Corporation by providing the CyberScholar employee-learning platform to five of the retailer's store brands that carry home appliance and consumer electronics products.  CCS has been delivering the CyberScholar solution to Sears' full-line stores and now will deliver product and sales knowledge to Kmart, Sears Home Appliance Showrooms, Sears Appliance & Hardware, and Sears Hometown stores.

WAYNE, N.J. – Toys“R”Us announced that it has named the former head of one of the world's largest toy companies to serve as president of its U.S. business. Neil Friedman, who most recently served as president Mattel Brands, will now oversee all merchandising, marketing, store operations, merchandise presentation, global sourcing and product development, as well as merchandise planning and allocation for Toys"R"Us' 866 stores and online business in the United States.

By Kuruvilla Mathew, [email protected]

NEW YORK -- If consumers were hesitant about providing personal information to retailers, they have even more reason to be paranoid as marketing firm Epsilon reported a number of breaches at several of its clients.

In a move to boost its competitive footing against the warehouse home centers, Ace Hardware Corp. is planning a paint-and-primer-in-one launch later this year.

Ace executives describe the paint as a "flagship new product" by providing convenience and ease of application. The branding of the new product will be unveiled when the launch occurs, possibly during the third quarter of this year.

Target is scheduled to release monthly sales for March this Thursday, and the company has already indicated its same-store sales figures won’t be pretty due to the late arrival of Easter. The holiday isn’t until April 24 this year, so the bulk of sales related to Easter will occur in April whereas last year Easter fell on April 4, so a greater percentage of seasonal sales fell in March.

It’s all about the ladies this week at Target as the retailer’s promotional emphasis shifted to spring-time seasonal apparel and related accessories and categories. A quartet of youthful and exuberant models wearing Mossimo and Merona brand dresses were featured on the cover of the weekly ad at the sale price of $17.99. A slightly younger demographic is targeted on the page two and three spread with two groups of three girls sporting Xhilaration and Mossimo Supply Co. styles for $17.99.