Content about Microsoft

Edwin Watts Golf has grown significantly during the past several years, expanding its store portfolio and direct mail and Internet businesses as well. With growth came an increased complexity that taxed the capabilities of its aging legacy systems, which did not provide visibility across channels and among stores. The retailer decided it was time to invest in a new solution due to the age and fragmentation of its existing systems.

Join Chain Store Age on Thursday, March 14, at 2 p.m. (Eastern) for a free Webinar, sponsored by Microsoft, on how to use digital signage solutions to improve customer engagement, improve brand awareness, target specific audiences, and quickly update messages — all while reducing costs and driving sales. Also, see best-practice examples of how retailers are leveraging digital signage for their competitive advantage.

The speaker, Jeff Collard, president of Omnivex Corp., is a leading authority on the use of digital signage in retail.

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft announced that J.C. Penney is rolling out Microsoft Office 365 as part of its effort to simplify and modernize technology solutions.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has gone high-tech. The company has unveiled a new store environment that combines its signature hands-on bear-making experience with innovative digital technology designed to appeal to today’s tech-savvy kids.

Denver -- Junction Solutions announced that Renys, which operates 16 discount stores in Maine, has selected Junction Solutions to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and help launch its multichannel retail strategy, while automating manual processes and improving visibility and collaboration throughout its store locations.

New York -- Apple Inc. became the most valuable public company of all time on Monday, after its market value climbed beyond $620 billion to surpass a milestone set by Microsoft Corp. more than 10 years ago, Reuters reported.

Apple shares reached a high of $664.74 on Monday morning, giving them a total value of $623.14 billion. This broke past the record of $620.58 billion set by Microsoft back in 1999, according to the report.

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft said Wednesday that Lowe's Home Improvement is engaging its services to help improve customer service. The retailer will implement Microsoft Office 365 across more than 1,745 stores, 200,000 employees and its corporate offices in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Office 365 will help Lowe’s improve customer service by providing collaboration tools to increase communication among its stores and employees.

Washington, D.C. — Former Microsoft executive, Tom Litchford, has been named The National Retail Federation's new VP retail technologies.

Effective July 2, Litchford will lead and manage NRF's Association for Retail Technology Standards and the exclusive, invite-only CIO Council. He will be responsible for developing and enhancing strategic programs, activities and relationships with retail and technology communities both domestically and internationally.

By Gary C. Smith, NAEIR.org

When Children’s Wish Foundation International, an Atlanta-based charity, hosts scrapbooking or craft parties for children in the hospital, it turns to a gifts-in-kind organization and its catalog of donated merchandise for supplies. The two organizations then coordinate shipments of stuffed animals, Halloween costumes, craft materials, toys, videos and other items to hospitals to help fulfill the wishes of children in need.
 

On Monday, Barnes & Noble Inc. and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership in a new unnamed Barnes & Noble subsidiary that, for the time being, is being identified as Newco. Here some comments from retail consultant Maggie Gilliam (Gilliam Insights) on the new venture:

New York -- Microsoft Corp. and Barnes & Noble have entered into an agreement by which Microsoft will invest $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s digital-book (Nook) business and college texts unit.

With the arrangement, Barnes & Noble's digital and college businesses will become a new, still-to-be-named subsidiary in which Barnes & Noble holds an 82.4% stake and Microsoft owns 17.6%. The agreement also means the two companies have settled their patent dispute.

New York -- Whether your company is already in the cloud or still on the fence about making the move, retailers can gain additional insight at “Legacy Modernization to the Cloud,” a FREE roundtable luncheon moderated by Chain Store Age. Attendees will learn how to move legacy workloads to the Cloud at a low cost and repurpose the savings on strategic imperatives like loyalty, mobile, and seamless digital connections.