News

New York -- eBay posted a profit of $850 million, compared with earnings of $751 million a year ago, for its fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2013, while revenues rose 13% to $4.5 billion, fueled by strong mobile results. In reporting its results, the company also said it has received a proposal from activist investor Carl Icahn seeking to spin off PayPal as a separate company.

New York -- Convenience-store operator Wawa will license Applied Predictive Technologies’ (APT) merchandise optimization software, adding to Wawa’s current long term licenses for APT’s Test & Learn management system and Market Basket Analyzer. Wawa will leverage the merchandise optimization solution to maximize profitability of space and merchandise assortment plans, assess the impact of each merchandising change, and fine-tune merchandising strategy across more than 600 locations.

Toronto -- AJB Software Design announced that it has implemented chip+PIN secured payment cards for all of J.Crew’s store locations throughout Canada.

AJB’s flexible integrated payments (FIPay) software enables merchants to accept EMV transactions, which can result in fewer disputed charges, lower levels of fraud, while providing global interoperability.

New York – Retail CIOs are preparing to take advantage of innovative technologies such as mobile, cloud and social, although they are less involved in efforts to leverage Big Data analytics. A new study of retail CIOs from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Forrester Consulting, “The Global Agenda of Retail CIOs,” retail CIOs plan to rapidly implement an array of mobile technologies, with context-aware tech (32%), mobile payments (28%), digital signage (24%), and mobile POS (22%) leading the way.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Company has selected Agilence Retail 20/20 as its exception reporting solution. The next-generation exception reporting solution will provide Brown Shoe Company with a platform for reporting on point-of-sale transactions, e-commerce, inventory adjustments, financials, and customer loyalty.

Las Vegas – Zappos Couture is launching a redesigned web presence with artistic direction and editorial from new artistic director Andre Leon Talley. Talley and Zappos Couture created the imagery for the new editorial in New York City's Industria Studios in December 2013.

St. Paul, Minn. – Bruegger’s Bagels opens a new store concept in Woodbury, Minn., today, and is launching a promotional contest to find artwork to place on a large brick feature wall in the store. Through March 31, amateur and professional artists can submit an abstract, two-dimensional design for the wall.

The winning design will be the focal point of the bakery and will be used in select new bakeries nationwide. The chosen artist will receive a $10,000 cash prize. Contest details are available on Bruegger’s Facebook page.

Stein Mart has elected Burton M. Tansky to the company's board of directors. Tansky was with Neiman Marcus for 23 years, retiring as president and CEO in 2010.

Before being named as CEO for the Neiman Marcus Group in 2001, Tansky was president and CEO of Neiman Marcus Stores. Prior to this he served as CEO of Bergdorf Goodman, a division of the Neiman Marcus Group, and as president of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the NFL, is teaming up with NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith to launch "Stay in the Game/Drink Responsibly" — an integrated campaign that will provide adults with a reliable way to travel during the weekend of the big game.

"At Bud Light, we take pride in being a leader in encouraging consumers to drink responsibly," said Rob McCarthy, VP, Bud Light. "'Stay in the Game' is designed to connect with and inspire fans to make smart decisions on Super Bowl Sunday."

Adconion Direct, a leading global cross-channel digital advertising company, has named Nathan Jokinen as VP of strategic development. Jokinen spent nearly a decade in business development and digital strategy at Target.