News

PepsiCo has appointed Tony West EVP of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective Nov. 24. He succeeds Larry Thompson, who is retiring after almost a decade of service.

Continued softness in mall traffic and lower-than-expected sales from its September fashion show have prompted Christopher & Banks to cut its sales forecast for the third quarter of fiscal 2014.

With average in-store purchases exceeding online sales by two and three times, popular online-only retailers, including Birchbox, Piperlime, Bonobos and Blank Label are continuing their expansion into physical storefronts, further accelerating the trend of online retail concepts expanding their omnichannel sales strategy to include physical locations.

Levi Strauss has added Jenny Ming to its board of directors. Ming is president and CEO of Charlotte Russe, a specialty retailer of apparel and accessories catering to young women, with more than 500 stores across the US, a position she has held since October 2009.

Target is completely revamping its app, while also working on a new one for pharmacy.

“We view mobile as the new front door to Target,” says Jason Goldberger, SVP of Target.com and mobile, was quoted as saying in the company’s newsletter, A Bullseye View. “We’re launching a host of significant enhancements and updates to Target’s mobile offerings — making it easier than ever for guests to shop Target.”

Chico’s is looking to evolve its omnichannel retailing strategy, and to that end, has partnered with Tyco, a leading global provider of retail performance and security tools and technology, to address inventory accuracy and visibility challenges in 13 Soma Intimates pilot stores.

Tyco's RFID-based Inventory Intelligence tool is designed to enable store assistants to access accurate, real-time inventory information in one place to better manage their deep merchandise assortment and to drive increased sales and shopper satisfaction, according to the company.

Wolverine Worldwide has appointed Melissa A. Howell SVP of global human resources. Howell will report directly to chairman, CEO and president Blake Krueger.

Howell has more than 24 years of experience in human resource management with General Motors, one of the world's largest automobile companies, with more than 200,000 employees in more than 150 countries. Howell most recently served as SVP of global human resources and also held numerous other human resource leadership roles during her time with the company.  

Bon-Ton plans to close its Bon-Ton store in the Clearview Mall in Butler, Pennsylvania, and its Elder-Beerman store in the Raleigh Mall in Beckley, West Virginia. The company will not renew these leases, which terminate Jan. 31, 2015.

The closings will affect approximately 38 and 39 store employees at the Clearview Mall and Raleigh Mall locations, respectively.

The 2014 holiday shopping season will be characterized by cautious spending, while economic realities create one of two American holiday shoppers — survivalists and selectionists — according to a new report released Tuesday from PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. and Strategy, titled "2014 Holiday Outlook: Top trends, consumer behaviors and implications for retailers."

Despite sluggish comparable store sales in the second quarter, Container Store chairman and CEO Kip Tindell is pleased with the company’s overall earnings performance, driven in part by increased average ticket growth as well as new store growth.