News

New York -- He very well may be the oldest employee in the United States. And Walmart has him.

Seattle - Nordstrom and J. Crew Group are expanding a merchandising partnership.

Nordstrom is doubling the number of stores that will carry J. Crew’s Madewell brand of women’s apparel items and accessories.

The department store retailer plans to expand the number of stores carrying Madewell products from 15 to 30 by the end of July, with Nordstrom.com also offering Madewell goods. Nordstrom is the only U.S. retailer to sell a broad assortment of Madewell merchandise, outside of Madewell stores.

Mountain View, Calif. – Drone-based delivery may still be far from an everyday reality, but likely players including Google and Amazon are already thinking about traffic control.

According to Bloomberg, Google, Amazon, Verizon and Harris Corp. are among 14 companies that have signed agreements with NASA to help create a drone air traffic control system.

Los Angeles – Cart abandonment is a problem that continues to plague online retailers, but some answers may have been uncovered. A site abandonment survey of more than 60,000 e-commerce shoppers by Bizrate Insights, a division of retail marketing solutions firm Connexity http://connexity.com/ (formerly Shopzilla), found that retailers can reduce abandonment by targeting customers who visited with the intent to buy, but didn’t complete a purchase (“true abandoners”).

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot Inc. is thanking teachers with an omnichannel back-to-school program.

The “Gear Up for School” promotion offers teachers who are part of the free Office Depot or OfficeMax rewards program a 25% off coupon for qualifying purchases during Teacher Appreciation Days, Aug. 1-4 and Aug. 29 – Sept. 1.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - JDA Software Group Inc. has created a new single-user software solution called JDA Planogram Generator Client, or myPG, which automatically creates large numbers of optimized, store-specific planograms for individual users. The planograms take into account user-defined merchandising instructions, fixtures, assortments and performance data.

In a single batch effort, high volumes of planograms can be quickly produced and distributed. myPG is built on the capabilities of JDA Planogram Generator.
 

Round Rock, Texas – Dell has released the Dell SonicWall TZ Wireless Firewall Series. These comprehensive wireless network security solutions provide enterprise-class 802.11ac wireless performance and security for users of all sizes.

TZ Wireless Firewall Series solutions offer deep packet inspection comparable to wired networks, delivering greater security and providing performance at a lower total cost of ownership. Other features include inspection of files at line speed and a user-friendly interface.

Minneapolis – Consumers who want to purchase an Apple Watch will have a new option as of Friday, Aug. 7.

 On that date, Best Buy will become the first national retailer, other than Apple Stores, where customers can buy the Apple Watch.

It will begin to arrive in more than 100 Best Buy stores and will also be available on BestBuy.com. Another 200 Best Buy stores will have the Apple Watch in time for holiday shopping.

New York - With plenty of last year's supplies stowed in the closet and the option to restock at-will, back-to-school shoppers may be in no hurry to fill their shopping baskets by August.   

According to Deloitte's annual back-to-school and back-to-college surveys, 38% of surveyed parents shopping for children in grades K-12 said the back-to-school shopping season is less important to their families because they replenish school supplies throughout the year and feel less need to stock up.

New York -- A survey released Monday is in line with other reports that consumers do not plan to spend more this year on back-to-school supplies than they did last year. The survey also lists the 10 most popular retail brands for back-to-school purchases.

Target ranks as the most popular retail brand for back-to-school purchases, just ahead of Walmart, in the 21st annual Back-to-School survey by Brand Keys, the New York-based brand loyalty and emotional engagement research consultancy. Macy’s, CVS and Best Buy round out the top five.