San Bruno, Calif. — Sears is launching a Connected Solutions flagship store that simplifies the way people shop for their connected home. Located at The Shops at Tanforan in San Bruno, Calif., it features a living room, kitchen, nursery, workout room, garage and outdoor area, so members can experience the benefits of smart technology firsthand. Nationally, Sears is expanding its Connected Solutions assortment to hundreds of stores.
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Wallingford, Conn. — Edible Arrangements International has named Tony DiPippa its new chief financial officer (CFO). DiPippa replaces former CFO George Wilson, who moves over to support Edible Arrangements founder and CEO Tariq Farid in the expansion of Edible Brands and his other ventures.
New York City — Emilia Fabricant, executive vice president of merchandising at Aeropostale, Inc., is leaving the company. Effective immediately, the company’s senior merchandising team will report to CEO Julian R. Geiger. There are no plans to seek a replacement for Fabricant at this time.
Green Bay, Wis. — Continuing its path of growth, Shopko will open 15 new Shopko Hometown stores across eight states this July. The 15 new locations join 20 stores Shopko opened earlier this year and more than 15 additional stores the company plans to open in October.
San Francisco — Gap Inc. plans to close about 175 specialty stores in North America over the next few years, with about 140 closures occurring this fiscal year. These changes will not impact Gap Outlet and Gap Factory Stores. The brand also will close a limited number of European stores.
Sheboygan, Wis. — Priority Sign has promoted Andy Dykstra to president after serving as executive vice president of sales since 2011. Additionally, Geoff Rosenbaum has been promoted to chief operating officer (COO) after serving as executive vice president of operations since 2011.
Toronto — Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) has entered into a definitive agreement with METRO AG to acquire Galeria Holding, the parent company of Germany’s Number 1 department store, Kaufhof, for €2.420 billion (C$3.357 billion). The acquisition is expected to close by the end of third fiscal quarter 2015.