Public Relations

At Macy's flagship store on 34th Street in New York City, a chance to sit on Santa's lap is by appointment only this year, for the first time ever. Starting Monday, families can go online to sign up for a time slot from 30 minutes to five days in advance. Admission is free to Santaland Herald…

Best Buy will no longer sell security software from Russian internet security company Kaspersky Lab after concerns that the company could be unduly influenced by the Russian government. This summer, the Moscow-based cybersecurity company has faced a series of allegations that it could be influenced by the Kremlin. Due to those concerns, Best Buy decided to stop…

Kmart’s new apparel ad campaign is all about celebrating — not marginalizing — “plus sized” women, while putting that full-figure label to rest for good. Kmart’s new "I Can” ad push fetes women of all shapes and sizes and marks the expansion of its signature brands (e.g., Joe Boxer, Basic Editions, Jaclyn Smith) to larger sizes…

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has committed up to $20 million to areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas last weekend. "Our Texas family of customers and associates are experiencing devastating impact from this storm," Wal-Mart President and CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement on Wed., Aug. 30. "We are on the ground to…

Check out this week's top retail news stories in this episode of Retail Right Now, including retailers helping out victims of Hurricane Harvey, Best Buy's water blunder during the hurricane, and the closure of Starbucks online store.

Earlier this week, tweets surfaced showing a Best Buy store in Houston selling cases of water for more than $40 each in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Best Buy officials responded to the growing controversy on social media by telling CNBC that it doesn’t actually sell…

The Home Depot Inc. was one of several companies that helped people affected by Hurricane Harvey, the Category 4 hurricane that devasted portions of Texas with catastrophic rains and flooding over the weekend. On Saturday, The Home Depot activated its Disaster Response Command Center at its store support center in Atlanta. There, the company's merchandising,…

President Trump renewed his attack on Amazon.com Wednesday, tweeting that the e-commerce giant is "doing great damage to tax-paying retailers" and removing jobs in cities. Trump's blistering tweet was issued hours after The Washington Post — the newspaper owned by Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos — ran an editorial with the headline, "Mr. Trump gives comfort to racists." Total…

Under Armour founder Kevin Plank became the second CEO to resign from President Donald J. Trump’s advisory jobs panel on Monday after the president was widely criticized for not quickly denouncing groups that marched at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend. Plank’s statement, issued Monday evening, made no mention of the president…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Associate Content Editor Taylor Knight reviews the top retail news of the week, including antitrust concerns around the Amazon-Whole Foods deal, Wal-Mart's marketplace ad containing a racial slur and L.L.Bean moving away from its traditional back-to-school catalog.