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Retailers and suppliers who already operate in China or are looking to expand there may want to contact Kurt Salmon following several key hires by the consulting company.

The management consulting firm’s Retail and Consumer Products Group in China said it hired Hao Li and Ke Chen as partners.

Staples has teamed up with Fundable, a business crowdfunding platform, to launch a new contest called Crowd2Shelf, which invites entrepreneurs and small businesses to leverage crowdfunding for a chance to sell their products in Staples stores as well as online.

The Wet Seal named Christine Lee EVP and chief merchandising officer, as the retailer of young women’s apparel looks to regain its appeal with core shoppers and reverse several quarters’ worth of double-digit same-store sales declines.

Lee will join Wet Seal on September 3 and in her new role report to company CEO John Goodman. Lee previously served as SVP and general merchandise manager at Pacific Sunwear since 2010. Prior to Pac-Sun, she spent 18 years with Urban Outfitters where she began her career as a sales associate.

Target’s expansion of its troubled Canadian division remains on track as new chairman and CEO Brian Cornell prepares to assume leadership of the company in August.
 
The new stores are located at Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga, Ontario; Park Place in Barrie, Ontario and Carrefour Candiac in Candiac, Quebec. The Barrie and Candiac locations are new buildings. Earlier this year, Target opened three locations in Canada, and has plans to open three more later this fall, bringing this year’s total to nine and overall total to 130.

Under Armour has signed a multi-year partnership with Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson. As brand ambassador, Peterson will wear Under Armour cleats and clothes on the field and during training.
 

As part of its efforts to generate traffic this back-to-school season, Office Depot is offering teachers in Florida a 20% discount off qualifying purchases during its Office Depot Rewards and MaxPerks Teacher Appreciation Events.

The events will be held at Office Depot and OfficeMax stores across Florida during select weeks this summer. In Florida, they’ll be taking place from August 2 through August 5.

Publix Super Markets and Weis Markets reported respectable second quarter sales growth, but profits were harder to come by.

Publix, the nation’s fifth largest supermarket chain, said sales for its second quarter increased 6.6% to $7.5 billion, with 1.3% of the gain related to the timing of Easter. Same store sales increased 6.3%. Despite the top line improvement, Publix said profits increased slightly less than 1% to $404.1 million from $400.9 million while earnings per share increased by a penny to 52 cents.

New York -- A report by Bloomberg said that investor BlueCrest Capital Management is urging RadioShack to repay the lenders that are blocking plans to shutter stores.

The electronics retailer announced last March that it would close 1,100 stores; it later reduced the number of closures to 200 per year for three years after negotiations with lenders failed.

BlueCrest said it supported the company's decision to shut stores to stem losses and was willing to provide financing, Bloomberg said.
 

Seattle – Consumers like the Firefly feature that lets users of the Amazon Fire phone scan objects to obtain information and perform instant purchase on Amazon.com, but not enough to switch from their current phones to Amazon Fire. According to a survey of 53 consumers from UserTesting, 84% chose Firefly as their number one or two favorite feature of Amazon Fire.

Washington, D.C. - Almost three-quarters of Americans worry about the quantity of personal information available online and more than half feel they cannot trust social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep their contact information, buying habits and political beliefs confidential. According to a new poll conducted by Rad Campaign, Lincoln Park Strategies, and Craigconnects, online security concerns rise as Americans get older.