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Stein Mart Launches New National Campaign, Love at First Find, with Heavy Digital and Social Media Focus

Created by ArnoldNYC, Campaign Stars Loyal and Passionate Customers in an Effort to Build a Community of Enthusiasts Online

/PRNewswire/ — National discount department store Stein Mart, in partnership with its new ad agency, ArnoldNYC, announced today the launch of Love at First Find, a national campaign focusing heavily on digital and social engagement. The integrated effort &x2013; consisting of digital, social media, TV, print and radio &x2013; stars real Stein Mart customers with the goal of fostering an online community of ns via Facebook and Stein Marts website. The campaign is the first work from ArnoldNYC since being awarded creative AOR in June 2011.

To view the assets associated with this release, please click

Beginning September 12, a collection of videos depicting customers vorite merchandise finds will be featured in a mosaic on Stein Marts revampedhomepage, where visitors will be encouraged to upload their own Love at First Find videos. The site acts as a Stein Mart community where enthusiasts can also comment on the videos, like and post to Facebook, and sort by categories, such as hometown. Alongside the website community, Stein Mart is leveraging Facebook to connect with ns and publicize sales and promotions.

In addition, 40 real-life customers were chosen in Stein Mart stores in California to star in TV ads, which were filmed both in store and in customer homes. &xA0;The modern mosaic design featured on the website informed the look and approach for the TV ads.

Stein Mart customers are known for having a deep passion and loyalty &x2013; not just for the merchandise but for the brand itself. In watching the customer videos, we were so blown away by their enthusiasm in describing their Stein Mart shopping experiences, we wanted to create an online community of Stein Mart brand ambassadors and make them the center of our marketing campaign, said John Staffen, Chief Creative Officer, ArnoldNYC.

The campaign aims to appeal to 35-55 year old shoppers. Stein Mart is a nationwide department store based in Jacksonville, Florida with more than 260 stores in 29 states. &xA0;The brand offers a wide range of merchandise including current-season, brand name shion for women and men, accessories, home decor, linens and shoes, all priced up to 60% below department store prices. &xA0;&xA0;

We feel this new tagline Love at First Find reflects the excitement and passion customers have for Stein Mart, our distinctive merchandise and the values we offer, said Glori Katz, SVP of Marketing, Stein Mart. The new advertising looks fresh and modern and creating the online community is a wonderful idea.&xA0;Our uniquely loyal customers readily share their finds and love of the brand on our very active Facebook page and through our Customer Panel, so the online community is a great next step to harness this love to attract new customers.&xA0;

About Stein Mart

Stein Mart stores offer the shion merchandise, service and presentation of a better department or specialty store, at prices competitive with off-price retail chains. Currently with locations from California to Massachusetts, Stein Marts focused assortment of merchandise features current season, moderate to better shion apparel for women and men, as well as accessories, shoes anddiscount retail chains home shions.

SMRT-S

Additional information about Stein Mart, Inc. can be found at

About Arnold Worldwide

Arnold ( is a global communications company and one of the top five most creatively awarded agencies of the past decade. We are proud to represent a diverse portfolio of clients, including Aetna, Amtrak, Carnival Cruise Lines, Dell, Fidelity Investments,Nike soccer cleats The Hershey Company, Huntington Bank, Lee Jeans, McDonalds, New Balance, Ocean Spray, Panasonic, Progressive, Titleist, truth&xAE;, Tyson, Unilever, Volvo and many other great brands. Arnold delivers services across all communication touch points &x2013; advertising, digital, promotions, direct,nike outlet store. design, branded content &x2013; and is part of Havas Worldwide with offices in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Toronto, London, Amsterdam, Prague, Milan, Madrid, Melbourne, Moscow, Lisbon, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.

CONTACT: Eric Robertson, +1-212-463-1201,nike air max shoes. erobertsonarn-

SOURCE Arnold Worldwide

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The State Worker: A.M. Reading: Browns veto pen; positives about pensions; R.I. unions win pension decision

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PRICE cuts have hit margins at discount shion retailer Primark as it battles against rivals to attract cash strapped shoppers.

Parent company food and retail group Associated British Foods said summer sales on the UK high street came earlier than in previous years and price cuts are bigger than before.

The deep discounting comes on top of higher cotton costs, which have already hit Primarks earnings.

ABFs finance director John Bason said: The summer sales have been brought earlier and deeper. The UK high street is a tough place with a real squeeze on disposable income and people are being careful on what they spend.

Despite the pressure, the company said in a trading update that it still expects little change in the groups earnings for the year ending on September 17.

Mr Bason is more upbeat about the prospects for next year with 10 new stores set to open and, together with store extensions, this should add around 10 per cent to Primarks total floor space for the year to September 2012.

The recent ll in cotton prices from peak levels in March will help cut input costs.

Primark took the decision earlier this year not to pass on the bulk of the hike in cotton costs to consumers in order to stay price competitive.

As a result it suffered a dip in profit margins.

Analyst Graham Jones at house broker Panmure Gordon cut his forecast for Primarks annual margins from 10.7 per cent to 10.2 per cent, which compares to 12.5 per cent the previous year. Mr Bason said that Primarks trading had held up well with overall sales up 13 per cent for the year and like-for-like sales were up three per cent after a similar first-half rise.

He said Primark had a good fourth quarter with third and fourth quarter like-for-like sales both up three per cent.

The 223-store chain will be further boosted by the opening of a new 46,000 sq ft Primark this week at the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre next to the 2012 London Olympic Park.

Primark has opened stores in Scunthorpe, Ilford, Kings Lynn and Stockport during the past six months.

The company, which also sells Silver Spoon sugar, Kingsmill bread, Mazola vegetable oil, Ovaltine drinks and Twinings tea, reported higher than expected sugar profits thanks to gains in Spain, Africa and China.

This will help offset the Primark margin ll in overall results.

The UK grocery arm and tea and drinks business Twinings Ovaltine both performed well.

However, bakery division Kingsmill only partially recovered higher wheat costs, while foods distributor Westmill was hit by a slowdown in the Chinese and Indian restaurant trade.

James Dawson,Nike mercurial vapor superfly an analyst at broker Charles Stanley, added that a good performance from sugar helped offset some of the weaker results elsewhere, but with pressure continuing on margins there is a risk forecasts could be lowered.

The company has offloaded its Quorn business to tackle its huge debt mountain.

Yesterday ABF confirmed that the Vivergo bio-ethanaol plant in Hull is expected to be completed in spring 2012 after a numberdiscount retail chains of delays.

Analyst Darren Shirley at Shore Capital said: Looking into 2012,nike air max shoes. we continue to expect a very strong year for sugar, with the UK to benefit from substantially higher contract prices.

Grocery sales and profits are expected to be ahead of the prior year,nike outlet store. with growth driven by strong sales growth in Twinings Ovaltine in both developed and emerging markets, more than offsetting a much weaker performance from George Weston Foods in Australia.

In the UK, Allied bakeries is reported to have traded well, with Silver Spoon having a successful year.

Westmill Foods remain constrained by weakness in the Indian and Chinese restaurant mar- kets.

The group, which is 55 per cent owned by chief executive George Weston and his mily, is due to report full-year results on November 8.

Leading light of 350m scheme

PRIMARK will be a key tenant at the landmark 350m Trinity Leeds retail scheme when the centre opens in 2013.

Primark joins two other leading UK retailers, Marks & Spencer and Top Shop, as an anchor tenant, attracting customers to the one million square foot scheme.

Trinity Leeds is the largest retail development outside the capital to get the go-ahead since the credit crunch.

It will feature an Everyman Cinema and two Conran restaurants.

The schemes parent Land Securities, the UKs biggest property company, said it is excellent progress with the development.

This website and its associated news adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor byclicking here.

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Thursday 15 September 2011

Sunny

Temperature: 10 C to 17 C

Wind Speed: 8 mph

Wind direction: South east

Friday 16 September 2011

Light showers

Temperature: 11 C to 16 C

Wind Speed: 16 mph

Wind direction: South east

Saturday 17 September 2011

Light showers

Temperature: 8 C to 15 C

Wind Speed: 20 mph

Wind direction: South west

Sunday 18 September 2011

Light showers

Temperature: 7 C to 15 C

Wind Speed: 15 mph

Wind direction: West

Monday 19 September 2011

Sunny spells

Temperature: 10 C to 17 C

Wind Speed: 17 mph

Wind direction: South west

FASHION giant Next is to open a new store on the outskirts of Peterborough city centre in a move that could create up to – jobs.

The retail chain is the second big name store to be signed up for the Brotherhood Shopping Park, in Lincoln Road, Walton, as part of a 23 million makeover of the retail centre.

The Leicester-based Next has signed a 10-year deal to open a 27,000 sq ft store that will concentrate largely on home furnishings, although the store will also sell mens, womens and childrens clothing ranges.

Just a few weeks ago Marks and Spencer was announced by the park owners, Aberdeen Asset Management nike air max shoes, as the first new tenant for the revamped park which will open in autumn next year.

A spokesman for Next said: The new store will feature all of our product areas, including shion and homeware, and it is not going to result in the closure of our store in Queensgate.

It is estimated the new store could create between 50 and – full and part-time jobs.

The news has sparked some worry that a range of top stores at the shopping park could undermine the success of the city centre.

Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson said: My priority is still to build the vitality of the city centre retail offering.

I hope and believe it is possible to combine the well being of the city centre and the Brotherhood Shopping Park. Next is well known and popular retailer.

Chief executive of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce John Bridge said he was delighted that Next had chosen to invest further in Peterborough, which would create jobs.

Phil Huby, Brotherhood asset manager, said: Next is another significant letting for the shopping park. Alongside Marks & Spencer,Nike mercurial vapor superfly it highlights our vision of attracting top end retailers to Peterborough.

Retail expert Professor Paul Dobson, head of Norwich Business School at the University of East Anglia, said: It is a good signal to Peterborough that Next is investing in the city.

He added: Next is an incredibly well established brand that has moved beyond clothing into homeware and -s young, upwardly mobile customers.

THE Brotherhood Shopping Park, previously home to Focus DIY, Currys and MFI, will have a total area of 260,000 sq ft of retail space, with 110,000 sq ft being on a mezzanine level after the revamp.

It will be completely landscaped and will include polished stone Nike Air force, flushed glazing and cladding.

Incorporated in the new-look development will be 11 retail units, a restaurant, flat evel car park offering 528 parking spaces, cycle rack for 200 bikes and a new covered bus stop.

The planned trading hours once the park is fully open in autumn 2012 will be 9am to 10pm.

BOSSES of a leading retailer have moved to reassure shoppdiscount retail chainsers they do not have plans to close any of their Peterborough stores.

27 Comments

BOSSES of Peterborough&8217;s Brotherhood Shopping Park are seeking nominations of groups and organisations that could benefit from a &163;1,000 cash gift.

0 Comments

MARKS and Spencer is the first name announced to be opening a new store as part of plans for a &163;25 million revamp of a city shopping park.

28 Comments

With two popular stores Nike soccer cleats, M & S and Next, taking up residence, a large number of shoppers will travel there rather than to the City centre or the Bretton Centre, which both have limited parking. Will the Brotherhood site have sufficient parking for all the shoppers including those using other retailers already on the site?

I understand the new shopping centre will also have a small training school for security officers. High levels of shop-lifting is expected initially from the locals and a number of new devices will be trialled by M&S and Next jointly. As a result Security Staff will be able to get the new UK Security Qualification after working for one month on the shop floor and CCTV studio. The value of this qualification will mean almost guaranteed employment anywhere in the country, and well rewarded court appearances. Finally American – Security systems arrive in the UK. The Stun-guns will be next.

Will this really bring anything New to Peterborough or is it just the same names moving around to take advantage of incentives to move into the retail park? How many shops will close and jobs be lost at those already established premises when everyones finally re-settled into their new locations? Fast Food outlets and Garden Centres excepted.

6 – point taken, but it would be nice to see a bit of both occasionally. Other cities manage it. Theres plenty of big stores in Cambridge, York, even Stamford, but they have dozens of wonderful and quirky little shops too. Our council doesnt seem to want that. Look how they bent over backwards to get TK Maxx onto Bridge Street and remember how hard they make it for smaller independent retailers. To answer your question, no, I wouldnt pay 20% extra every day, but Id at least like the choice.

This website and its associated news adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor byclicking here.

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Thursday 15 September 2011

Sunny spells

Temperature: 10 C to 18 C

Wind Speed: 9 mph

Wind direction: South east

Friday 16 September 2011

Light showers

Temperature: 11 C to 18 C

Wind Speed: 16 mph

Wind direction: South east

Saturday 17 September 2011

Light showers

Temperature: 7 C to 16 C

Wind Speed: 23 mph

Wind direction: South west

Sunday 18 September 2011

Light showers

Temperature: 8 C to 15 C

Wind Speed: 20 mph

Wind direction: West

If you werent one of the door busters or quick-fingered enough to snag a Missoni item for sale at Target on Tuesday, there are countless other designer collections offered at discount prices through retail chains.

If you werent one of the door busters or quick-fingered enough to snag a Missoni item for sale at Target on Tuesday, there are countless other designer collections offered at discount prices through retail chains, like Karl Lagerfeld for Macys. />

High-end design houses creating budget-friendly lines is not a new phenomenon. Mass market retail chains have collaborated with countless designers to sell discounted brand name apparel worldwide. It is a win-win situation: High shion designers get to extend their reach to an entirely different market, one that is frugal, for commercial success while chain stores like Target profit.

Most notably, Isaac Mizrahi was one of the first retailers to break the glass wall, once formerly barring shionistas from highly-coveted designer threads, between high shion designers and retailers when hidiscount retail chainss discount collection debuted at Target in 2009.

Since, many high-end designers have followed suit including: Chanel, Zac Posen,Nike soccer cleats Proenza Schouler, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney.

So if you missed the Missoni sale, here are 12 other discount designer collections still available at retailers for a limited time for Fall.

Karl Lagerfeld for Impulse atMacys

forKohls

Lela Rose forPayless

J+ by Jil Sander forUniqlo

Norma Kamali forWal-mart

M by Marc Bouver forQVC

Simply Vera by Vera Wang forKohls

Mango forJCPenney

Christian Siriano forPayless

Kardashian Kollection forSears

Albertus Swanepoel forTarget (begins October 30)

Versace forH&M (begins November 17)

If you werent one of the door busters or quick-fingered enough to snag a Missoni item for sale at Target on Tuesday, there are countless other designer collections offered at discount prices through retail chains, like Karl Lagerfeld for Macys.

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DJIA Today: Markets Rise Despite French Bank Credit Downgrade, Germany-France-Greece Conference Today Over Greek Debt, China Supports Italy

Stocks End Higher for a Second Straight Day, France, Germany, Greece to Talk Tomorrow nike air max shoes, US Poverty Hits Record High 46.2M

Romanian businessman Diniu Patriciu, owner of retail chain Mercadia, has named Anca Vlad, the former Purchasing Manager and Procurator at bauMax Romania nike air max shoes, to be new Head of Category Management and Purchasing at Mercadia Hollands FMGC Retail division, starting October this year. Also, Vlad Seitan, who used to be Head of International Marketing at OMV Refining and Marketing will hold the position of Chief Operational Officer and Deputy CEO of the same division. Both changes come after the groups approval of the new management structure.

The FMCG Retail divison will be led by a five- member Management Board whos Chief Executive Officer is Richard Mansel Nike Air force, named on  this position in May, 2011.

Romanian businessman Diniu Patriciu, who owns Mercadia Hollding, a group that includes Mic.ro and Macro stores in Romania,Nike soccer shoes took the decision to make some changes to the management after opening hundreds of Mic.ro units and dozens of Macro stores.

Romanian retailer Mercadia Holland will have a turnover of EUR 225 million in 2011, while in 2012 is expects to reach a level of EUR 880 million, according to Dinu Patriciu. For 2012, the company plans a turnover of EUR 1.5 billion, he added.

The company will invest EUR 250 million by end-2012, when it will reach a network of 2,000 Mic.ro stores, 750 mobile units and – minimax and Macro stores. So r, the investments amounted to EUR 70 million.

Mercadia Hollding currently owns 800 Mic.ro stores in Romania, and 6 Macro units.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescuromania-insider-

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Romanian President: Anti-missile shield agreement with US brings Romania&8217;s security to highest level

Mixed messages on Basescu&8217;s trip to the US. Romanian media announces meeting with Obama but no official data yet

I havent posted for quite some time now. The reason for this was another project that took up all my time Nike mercurial vapor superfly, an Ironman triathlon. I ll write about this some other time.  But now, with my  Ironman out of the way, I was just waiting for the right moment to resume my blog. Yesterdays events […]

You may be wondering why Im writing so much about Alina Serban? Am I being paid by Hollywood (or Media Pro)? Am I in love? Have I got nothing better to do?  The explanation is : when I went to speak with the magazine Decit o Revista they asked me what I was working on […]

How good to be in Bucharest now that the George Enescu festival is here! When I first saw the programme for this years twentieth festival, I could not quite believe my eyes. It looked like one of those conferencdiscount retail chainse programmes which promise the President, three Ministers and the British Ambassador, but when you turn up you hear three officials reading their […]

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New York, September 14th (TradersHuddle-) – Shares of Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) closed the tradingday higher by $0.31 or 0.87% from its previous close. Dollar Generals shares price action formed what is considered to be adoji close nike air max shoes, where the open and close prices are very close to each other, mainly signaling an indecision between buyers and sellers.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) operates a chain of discount retail stores located primarily in the southern,Nike mercurial vapor superfly southwestern, midwestern and eastern United States. The Company offer a broad selection of merchandise, including consumablediscount retail chains and non-consumable such as seasonal merchandise.

Dollar Generals current stock range is defined by a trough, which marks calculated support at $34.22 and by a peak that marked the resistance point at $37.13. These levels are closely watched by traders managing their positions.

Traders wanting to establish a position in Dollar General or traders that are already holding the stock can use the doji close to their advantage Nike Air force, since the pattern present a short term pause in the stocks price action. This pause results in an entry point for traders depending of which way the stock resolves this short term indecision.

Doji are important candlesticks that provide information on their own and as components in a number of important patterns.Doji form when a securitys open and close are virtually equal. The length of the upper and lower shadows can vary and the resulting candlestick looks like a cross Nike soccer cleats, inverted cross or plus sign. Alone, doji are neutral patterns.

Any bullish or bearish bias is based on preceding price action and future confirmation. In the case of Dollar General, given that the stock finished the session higher, bulls should monitor their positions for confirmation that stock will continue higher by taking todays intraday high. Below a Doji illustration:

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The retail sector will receive a much needed boost today (13 September) when the doors open at Westfield Stratford City, the largest shopping centre in Europe.

The centre will provide a gateway to the Olympic site and showcase the cream of British retail, including anchor stores Waitrose, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer.

In an increasingly tough marketplace Nike Air force, major high-street retail brands are looking to reinvent themselves in the minds of consumers,Nike soccer cleats who are increasingly migrating to online shopping.

The Waitrose store is claimed to be the greenest Waitrose to date as the supermarket attempts to deliver on its promise to deliver a carbon reduction of 15% by 2020/2021.

The 20,988 sq ft store is the first Waitrose to be powered by an on-site energy centre. Unusable waste food will be sent to an anaerobic digestion plant, where it will be converted into renewable energy for the national grid.

Waitrose sister retail chain John Lewis is opening a 260,000 sq ft department store at Westfield Stratford City, which the company says is creating 750 new jobs.

The retailer is heralding the £35m site as the next generation and claims over 70% of the store will showcase new shopping concepts.

Marks & Spencers Stratford store is among the first to carry a new format, which includes a new in-store navigation scheme and a unique look and feel for all sub-brands.

It is also being cast as a green initiative Nike mercurial vapor superfly, with M&S claiming it is the most operationally carbon efficient store to date.

Westfield claims 95% of the sites 1.9 metre sq ft space has already been let. Major retailers trading at the centre include Topshop, Next, Apple,air max shoes. Prada,Nike soccer shoes Nike and Hugo Boss.

In total, the site houses 300 shops, 70 restaurants, a14-screen Vue cinema, three hotels, a bowling alley and the nations biggest casino.

Westfield Stratford is running live streams of launch events on itswebsdiscount retail chainsite today, along with additional information on stores, events and offers.

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John Lewis Partnership, which owns the John Lewis and Waitrose retail chains, says it will continue to invest in price promotion despite its Never Knowingly Undersold commitment hitting margins and first half profit.

Pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 June was 90.4m, down 18.2% on the same period in 2010.

The retailer says that John Lewis Never Knowingly Undersold – which promises to match competitors prices – cost it 9.3m more than in same period last year,Nike mercurial vapor superfly shrinking profit margins as rivals turned to discounting to attract cash strapped shoppers.

Investment in ecommerce platforms and new stores also hit profit, the retailer says.

Despite the drop in profit, sales volume at both John Lewis and Waitrose continued to grow, helped by their more affluent customer base.

Sales at John Lewis stores opened for a year or longer increased 1% air max shoes, while like for like food sales at Waitrose grew 4%.

The Partnership claims that 300 Nike soccer shoes,000 more customers shopped at Waitrose each week, compared to last year, and market share increased by 0.2% to 4.1%.

Charlie Mayfield Nike Air force,Nike soccer cleats chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, says trading conditions will remain challenging this year and next but that John Lewis and Waitrose will continue to outperform rivals.

He adds: We are not simply waiting for the recovery, but instead we have increased the pace of investment and innovation across the Partnership putting us in the best possible position to seize the opportunity created by a rapidly changing retail environment.

Our momentum is strong and I am confident we will build on that in the second half.

View and comment on a range of John Lewis ads, including the Blades winning Christmas 2010 TV ad,on Pitch here

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