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PHILADELPHIA — The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack have appointed Thomas Carey to the newly created position of SVP, chief customer officer. In this new position, Carey will be responsible for guiding the company’s customer experience strategies and tactics, as well as leading the development and execution of its marketing strategies. Carey is expected to start with Pep Boys on Aug. 6. Carey most recently served as the SVP and chief marketing officer for Orchard Supply Hardware. From 2003 until joining Orchard in 2007, Carey served as SVP and chief marketing officer of West Marine Inc. Prior

eBay hired Paul Todd to head strategy at eBay Marketplaces. The new Vice President of Strategy will report to Marketplaces President Devin Wenig, who joined from Thomson Reuters last year. Todd has experience across digital commerce and services from his roles at Google, Rearden and McKinsey and has worked in strategy, product management and business/corporate development roles. During his tenure at Google, he launched multiple new product offerings and developed and implemented Google's strategy in the travel industry, which led to the $700 million acquisition of ITA. He was also instrumental in Google's $100 billion revenue plan, which drove

U.S. Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) testified today at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in favor of their legislation – the Marketplace Fairness Act, S.1832 – that would give states the option to collect the sales taxes they are owed under current law from out-of-state businesses, rather than rely on consumers to pay those taxes to the states—the method of tax collection to which they are now restricted. Under the current tax loophole, while brick-and-mortar retailers collect sales taxes from customers who make purchases in their stores, many online and catalog retailers do

Indianapolis -- Hhgregg reported Thursday a loss of $5.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of $0.8 million in the year-ago period. The electronics and appliances retailer cited higher expenses coupled with same-store sales declines for the poor performance. Net sales increased 13.5% to $489.9 million from $431.5 million, and same-store sales decreased 5.1%. “Our first fiscal quarter proved to be more challenging than anticipated with sales and earnings coming in below our original expectations,” said Dennis May, president and CEO. “We reacted to the sales shortfall by making adjustments to our cost structure.

Memphis, Tenn. -- Discount-store operator Fred's Inc. said Wednesday that its same-store sales increased 1.2% during the four weeks ended July 28, helped by markdowns that increased customer traffic. The company also raised its earnings guidance for the second quarter, citing a tax settlement with the state of Tennessee. Total sales for the month rose 5% to $136.7 million. Fred's said that it completed negotiations with the state of Tennessee to settle a tax matter, which will help offset costs related to store closings and July sales markdowns, in the second quarter.

Although students aren't yet thinking about back to school, marketers are.  Performance marketing budgets are being set for the peak back-to-school months of July, August and September. To give retailers an idea of this year's opportunity, we looked back at 2011 back-to-school paid search data for our aggregate group of retailer clients. We also considered some key differences between the 2011 and 2012 back-to-school shopper to devise some fresh 2012 engagement strategies.

No company gave more money and products to charity in 2011 than Walmart, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking. The publication put Walmart at the top of its list of the 10 most charitable companies, indicating that the company donated $342 million in cash and $616 million in products last year. That is the equivalent of 4.1% of the company’s 2010 pretax profits. “Walmart continues to make good on its 2010 $2 billion pledge to help feed low-income people,” according the publication. “Last year, it provided $60 million and 338 million pounds of food to anti-hunger groups.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. announced it is supporting the American Association of Retired Persons’ “Work Reimagined” program and the 50-plus worker pledge. “Work Reimagined” is a social network-based jobs program that connects employers seeking experienced workers with qualified professionals searching for new or more satisfying careers. The site (will leverage the platform of social media site LinkedIn to make the best connections between experienced workers and the best employers. “Dollar General is committed to creating job opportunities for all Americans,” said Bob Ravener, Dollar General’s executive VP and chief people officer. “Experienced people bring tremendous work skills

JOHANNESBURG ( ) - Australian clothing retailer Country Road, a unit of South Africa's Woolworths, will buy local rival Witchery Group in a $181 million deal that broadens its offering in upscale apparel. Witchery Group, which is being sold by by private equity firm Gresham, operates 210 stores under the Witchery brand and 96 bag and jewellery stores under the Mimco brand. Country Road, which is 88 percent-owned by Cape Town-based Woolworths, said on Wednesday it would fund the 172 million Australian dollars deal through debt and equity. It will borrow A$92 million from banks and raise a similar

Good news for iPad owners looking for some video entertainment on the fly -- a new Amazon app is now offering customers access to its Instant Video content. The free app, similar to Netflix's streaming app, will allow customers to stream or download content from the Instant Video catalog directly to their iPads. It also will make titles from Prime Instant Video available for instant streaming to Prime customers at no additional cost. Also read: Next Issue, 'Netflix for Magazines,' Comes to iPad Amazon's Instant Video archive