News

Nordstrom Inc. plans to more closely align operations of its omnichannel Trunk Club business with the rest of the enterprise.   The luxury retailer plans to close the dedicated Trunk Club fulfillment center located on Goose Island in Chicago. With the closure, Trunk Club will integrate its operations into the Nordstrom network of fulfillment and distribution centers located across the U.S. The Goose Island facility will transition to its close by August 2017.  

It’s the end of an era for Belk Inc.   The retailer announced that Tim Belk will retire as CEO of the company in July 2016. Lisa Harper, CEO of Hot Topic, will succeed Belk as CEO, effective July 5.     The news comes less than a year after Belk, which operates 293 stores in 16 Southern states, was acquired in a $3 billion deal by Sycamore Partners. The private equity firm also owns Hot Topic.        

Belkin, which sells accessories for smartphones and tablets, has entered the brick-and-mortar space.   The company has opened a store newly renovated Terminal 6 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with the Hudson Group.   The store, which features a charging station, sells a variety of accessories, including chargers, cables, and screen protectors. It carries about 100 skus.  

Sobeys Inc. has named a former Home Depot executive as the Canadian retailer's chief merchandising officer.   Lyne Castonguay will oversee all aspects of Sobeys go-to-market strategy, with responsibility for category management, marketing, data insights, research, procurement, private label and merchandising as well as the company's digital strategy.  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering new regulations that could it make it difficult for smaller stores to accept food stamps.  

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and retailers are applying this truism to their email marketing efforts.   According to a survey of 150 retail clients by email marketing technology provider Campaigner, 39% of respondents say that the first email content new subscribers see from their brand is a thank-you-for-subscribing message. This approach seems to be working, as almost 50% of respondents report that 21% or more of new subscribers engage with such welcome emails.  

A coordinated rebranding effort has resulted in a new name for retail associations POPAI and A.R.E, which merged last October.   The new, combined group has changed its name to Shop!, a trade association focused on enhancing retail environments and experiences. The name is designed to represent the 2,000-plus global member companies and align with the full industry community they support.  

For the third year in a row, Walmart hosted more than 450 entrepreneurs during the company’s “Made in the USA” Open Call event held Tuesday, June 28 at its corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. The event, part of Walmart’s fourth annual U.S. Manufacturing Summit, is designed to find products made, assembled or grown in the U.S.