News

Austin, Texas – Parents are always telling their school-aged children that character is key, and they also apply a version of that maxim to back-to-school shopping. According to a recent survey by RetailMeNot, parents say their kids want school supplies featuring popular characters from films and TV shows.

Respondents indicated their children want "Minions"-themed school supplies the most (33%) followed by "Jurassic World" (31%), "SpongeBob" (24%) and "Star Wars" (22%).

Grand Rapids, Mich. – Back-to-school shoppers are both willing to spend more and also seeking savings this season. According to a new survey that department store chain Meijer conducted of its customers, approximately 92% of households with school-age children plan to spend the same amount or more than the previous year for back-to–school supplies.

Chicago – When a retailer includes the word “brain” right in its name, a certain level of operational intelligence is expected. For 30-plus-unit specialty educational toy and game retailer Marbles: The Brain Store, smartening up operations has included organizing product data on the Salsify product information management platform to provide merchandise intelligence across the organization.

Montvale, N.J. – So far, chapter 11 bankruptcy appears to be going as planned for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P). A&P has received approval for financing from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, bids for some stores, and will close 25 stores in the near term due to “lack of interest” and ongoing losses.

Retailers today are in a constant search for the industry’s Holy Grail – delivering an omnichannel brand experience across all touchpoints. Unfortunately, this quest to deliver on the promise of the omnichannel experience has given rise to a troublesome and pervasive problem known as fake omnichannel or “’fomni.”

Amid their search, retailers confront a wide array of commerce-related software solutions masquerading as omnichannel and promising to provide the type of seamless experiences shoppers now expect.

Publix Pharmacy has announced that it is offering biometric screenings at the company’s more than 970 pharmacy locations.

Gymboree is launching a colorful new campaign aimed at increasing awareness of a cause near and dear to the heart of its core customers.

The retailer has started a new effort to raise money in Gymboree and Gymboree Outlet stores to fund arts and crafts requests made by teachers on DonorsChoose.org. The goal is to fulfill classroom requests in every county where there is a Gymboree retail location.

TigerDirect is encouraging consumers to unleash their inner geek with 18th annual PC Race.

The retailer has partnered with Intel to host the competition, which is set to kick off at QuakeCon 2015 in Dallas from July 23 to July 26. The first contestant to assemble and boot their high performance PCs in each regional race will win an all expenses paid trip to Miami to compete in the National Finals on Nov. 6 during Tech Bash.

At a time when the future of the company is unclear, Belk Inc. is reportedly building another flagship store.

Rouse Properties Inc. announced it has signed a lease with Belk Inc. to open a new 237,000 square foot flagship store at The Shoppes at Bel Air in Mobile, Ala. Belk will be taking the place of an existing Sears, and expanding on its already integral presence at The Shoppes at Bel Air.

Bon-Ton Stores has hired a 30-year veteran of the retail industry as its chief operating officer.

The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. has named William Tracy to the position of COO, effective July 27. Tracy will have responsibility for stores, information systems, supply chain, distribution & logistics, omnichannel strategy, real estate, and HR.