News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — GE's Brillion-enabled products have made their retail debut at Sears.

Starting Thursday, more than 100 Sears stores in the Northeast will offer the GE Get Connected Starter Kit, plus the GE programmable thermostat and GE’s award-winning GeoSpring Hybrid Water Heater, all with Brillion technology, in one location.

SEATTLE — Another day, another toy list, this time from Amazon.com. The company has launched its 2012 holiday toy list and corresponding web page, where customers can discover hundreds of this year’s most popular and top rated toys, books, video games, electronics, movies, sporting goods and more.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark has appointed Alan Lotvin to the position of EVP specialty pharmacy.

Lotvin has extensive experience in the pharmacy benefit management and specialty pharmacy industries. Prior to joining CVS Caremark, Lotvin was president and CEO of Icore Healthcare, a Magellan Health Services company. Previously, he has held roles as president and COO of M|C Communications, a medical education provider, and served in various senior management positions at Medco Health Solutions, including president of specialty pharmacy services.

ATLANTA — RedPrairie, a global supply chain and retail technology provider, has named Gary Conway as EVP and chief marketing officer. In this role, Conway is responsible for RedPrairie’s global marketing strategy, including corporate brand management, customer engagement, product strategy and marketing, and demand generation. Conway will report to RedPrairie CEO Michael Mayoras and become a member of the company’s executive leadership team.  

A funny thing happened on the way to the department store: luxury goods became accessible to consumers online and at increasingly deeply discounted prices. Thanks to a spate of discount websites offering “flash sales” or exclusive, limited-time offerings, the flash sale phenomenon has revolutionized the way consumers shop, offering an entry into the luxury market at a fraction of the price.  

Sam’s Club cashiers could become an endangered species if an expanded test of a payment platform at a new club in Kansas City is embraced by members.

No wonder Walmart comps are increasing. Check out the latest monthly report from the ad tracking provider Market Track.

The month saw drop in the number of circulars released to the market by the majority of retailers. However, interestingly we saw flyers increasing pages compared with last year for most of the retailers in the year over year comparison.

Walmart had a significant increase in both the number of circulars as well as number of pages when compared with same time last year.

New York -- Hudson's Bay Co. announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with securities regulators in Canada for a proposed initial public offering of common shares. The company, which has been owned by NRDC Equity Partners since 2008, operates U.S. department store chain Lord & Taylor, along with The Bay and Home Outfitters chains in Canada.

New York -- Uniqlo, a division of Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd, will launch its U.S. e-commerce site next week, a crucial part of its drive to earn $10 billion in overall North American sales by 2020, Bloomberg reported.

"By opening this e-commerce site now, we are able to cater to customers across the United States," said Uniqlo USA CEO Shin Odake in the Bloomberg report.

Uniqlo currently has five U.S. locations, including new sites in San Francisco and New Jersey, along with its other three in Manhattan.

Whiting, Ind. — An online consumer survey shows that nearly half of consumers go into brick-and-mortar stores with their smartphones to research items without buying them and then looked for the same item at a lower price online.

The 2,361-adult survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CouponCabin.com between Sept. 18 and 20, found that 43% of smartphone and tablet owners have engaged in the practice, known as "showrooming."