News

HUDSON, Ohio — Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is turning 70, and to mark the special anniversary the specialty fabric and craft retailer is launching a “Share Your Story” sweepstakes on its Facebook page. 

Customers share their favorite Jo-Ann memories and each week, from July 28 through August 19, two random entrants will be chosen to win $100 Jo-Ann gift cards for a total of six winners. No purchase is necessary to enter or win.

Given the choice of shopping at only one retailer for the rest of their lives, millennial parents chose Walmart over several other popular retailers.
The study of the millenials, those age 25 to 34, was conducted by Vision Critical, and not surprisingly showed the demographic group changed purchasing habits and behaviors after starting a family.

NEW YORK — The average household is expected to spend about $285 on back-to-school items this year, with 39% of consumers planning to spend more than last year and 45% planning to spend about the same. 

According to a new study from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman-Sachs, 29% of households surveyed have started to shop for back-to-school items, which is lower than the 33% that had started at this time last year but more than in any other year since 2004.

MINNEAPOLIS — According to Kantar Media’s Marx report, retailer promotion activity continued to grow with a 21.6% increase to more than 11.3 billion pages in the first half of 2013, with Walmart leading in retailer activity.

Following on Walmart’s heels were Walgreens, Target and Family Dollar.

The future of multichannel commerce at Walmart will be detailed next week in the mountains of Colorado where the retailer’s two top digital executives are scheduled to participate in a conference hosted by Fortune.

The exclusive — and sold out — three day event held at the Aspen Institute and will feature Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce and Karenann Terrell, EVP and chief information officer, discussing the topic of, “How does technology fuel the success of both on-and offline at the world’s largest retailer.”

Sales at Scholastic Corp fell sharply during the company’s fourth quarter ended May 31 and most of the drop was blamed on the waning popularity of the Hunger Games trilogy.

The global children's publishing, education and media company said sales declined to $506.9 million in the fourth quarter compared to $676.6 million last year and earnings per share fell to 76 cents from $1.86 last year.

The Global Market Development Center has appointed Jason Weber as its new member services manager and Joshua Manweiler as its new communications specialist as part of its strategy to enhance membership services. 

There are a wide range of experiments in the marketplace right now, and plenty of angst related to same-day delivery of products and consumer’s desire for more immediate e-commerce gratification. Walmart, Amazon and others appear intent on unlocking what is seen by some as the next big thing in retail, but an interesting piece by Fox Business bring a new perspective to whether shoppers care. Click here to read more. 

More of a mass market future could be in the cards for the Oreck Corporation following acquisition of its assets this week by TTI Group’s Royal Appliance subsidiary, which manufactures well known home improvement and housewares brands.

Oreck filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year and this week the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee approved the sale of its assets to Royal Appliance for a little more than $17 million and the assumption of certain debt obligations.

ATLANTA — Red Book Connect, a global, cloud-based software solutions company serving the broader retail and restaurant industries, has appointed Arnab Sur as SVP of global sales, a previously unfilled position since the formation of the company in January 2013.