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Ikea is teaming up with YouTube to bring us one step closer to never having to participate in reality. By accessing a customer's Facebook account, Ikea U.K.'s YouTube app uses social media information to build "everything you need to be happy in bed."

Charlotte, N.C. -- Department store retailer Belk said Tuesday it has named Mark Chandler as executive VP operations, reporting to Johnny Belk, president and COO. Chandler was previously senior VP supply chain for Price Chopper Supermarkets.

Retailers taking advantage of marketing in the digital world might see more of a benefit at the check-out counter. The NYU Stern School of Business Center for Measurable Marketing joined social media monitoring company Crimson Hexagon to complete a recent study that revealed a positive correlation between social media and store traffic.

International beauty product retailer L'Occitane en Provence is luring shoppers into its stores and to interact with it on its U.S. Facebook page by offering a voucher to pick up a free tube of hand cream in-store if the page reaches 250,000 "likes," enabling the retailer to build its Facebook fan base, drive in-store traffic and acquire customer data.

Just as Steve Jobs transformed the notion of the personal computer and the cellphone, he left an indelible stamp on architecture, especially the retail kind, traditionally a backwater of the profession.

Home improvement chain Lowe’s will lay off 1,950 workers and close 20 stores in 15 states, the company said. Two of the locations on the chopping block are in California. Lowe’s said that it closed 10 stores on Oct. 16 and will phase out the rest in a month.

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp. said Tuesday that it has extended its agreement with Express to continue providing Express with private-label credit card services including account acquisition and activation, receivables funding, card authorization, card issuance, statement generation, remittance processing, customer service functions, and multichannel marketing services. Under terms of the extension agreement, Alliance Data said it will work with Express to evolve its card program through new cardholder benefits, new card plastics, and testing a new points-based loyalty program. Additionally, the team will explore mobile marketing and payment solutions, focusing on enhancing the customer experience, engaging new and

Baldwyn, Miss. -- Hancock Fabrics said Monday that its interim president and CEO Steven Morgan has been named the company’s permanent chief, and he will also continue to serve as a member of the company’s board of directors. Morgan, formerly president of GameStop, was appointed as interim president and CEO of Hancock Fabrics in January 2011.

Old Navy has partnered with Telemundo to launch a telenovela-style miniseries for the web. The Spanish-language web novela, "Estilos Robados" (Stolen Styles), is a six-part miniseries that launched Oct. 14 and will air on Fridays through Nov. 18.

New research from GroupM Search reveals 86 percent of buyers who purchase in-store use generic terms on search engines to inform their purchase decision. The study also shows that when a shopper conducts a search online and clicks on a link, 90 percent of those clicks are on the organic listings of a search engine results page.