News

Lebanon, Tenn. – Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is taking a decidedly new-fangled approach to promotion. The casual dining chain has enlisted Nashville-based advertising agency Redpepper to create a holiday-themed social marketing campaign.   The promotion targets a younger, more social demographic with Facebook posts. Some posts in the campaign have received more than 10,000 interactions.

The nation’s newest mall in Sarasota, Fla., introduced shoppers to a new app with interesting navigation and personalization capabilities. Now the trick is driving downloads and usage.

By Gregg Aamoth, POPcodes

 

By Michael B. Adreani

 

It remains to be seen how Big Lots performed this holiday season, but the closeout retailer’s catchy and original television advertising drew accolades from industry experts.

In a recent piece in Ad Age, Big Lot’s holiday campaign “Nailed It” was singled out by writer Ken Wheaton as the top campaign of the season.

 

Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Market’s newest store combines the 56-year-old grocer’s signature Old World traditions with leading-edge technology. The 100,000-sq.-ft. store, in Carol Stream, Illinois, houses state-of-the art refrigeration equipment that helps set it apart from other local supermarkets.

Oracle Retail begins 2015 with a former top IBM exec in a key leadership role and several key acquisitions under its belt as the technology leader looks to help retailers achieve differentiated shopping experiences.

Oracle Retail named Jill Puleri as Senior Vice President and General Manager reporting to Mike Webster, Oracles Senior Vice President and General Manager, Retail and Hospitality. Puleri most recently served as Worldwide Retail Industry Leader for IBM Global Business Services.

 

DO embrace technology: It can show you what you need BEFORE you set your feet on the ground. Google Earth/Street view can give you a sense of the macro-features, but remember that these online technologies can be six to 12 months out of date.

DO get a solid read on pedestrian traffic counts: Retailers thrive on quantity and quality of traffic. Technology exists to place traffic counters (passive devices) on properties to get not only the body count but also to identify the busiest hours, busiest days of the week and more.