Virginia Beach

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- What do journalists, veterinarians, animators, fashion editors and pediatric occupational therapists have in common? The five latest Dream UP Career Exploration Program national essay contest winners want to join them in the workplace when they grow up! These award-winning middle school students soon will have the chance to live their “Dream Job” for a day thanks to the Dream UP Program, which is sponsored by the Office Depot Foundation − the independent, non-profit foundation that serves as the primary charitable giving arm of Office Depot Inc. (NYSE:ODP) − in collaboration with USA TODAY Charitable

Posted to: Business Retail and Consumer The Virginian-Pilot Apparently, the party is over for Occasions. The two stores in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have closed after five years selling party supplies. Occasions was a trial concept for owner Dollar Tree, carrying products that cost more than a buck, unlike the national chain’s namesake stores. Dollar Tree officials declined to respond to questions last week about the closings. On occasion, the Chesapeake-based retailer, the nation’s largest chain selling everything for $1, tests new concepts in Hampton Roads with a limited number of stores. Occasions was the first of the different

PacBlue Digital Imaging, a Van-couver, British Columbia-based digital printing firm, drew more than 20,000 attendees to its recent Vancouver Sun EPIC Sustainable Living Expo. The three-day green exposition enabled consumers and merchants to come together in support of environmentally friendly products and companies. The event touted the use of waterless printing and its benefits to the environment. The process involves using heat, rather than water, to transfer ink to the substrate. A conventional press the size of the waterless press used by PacBlue Digital uses as much as 12,000 liters of water per year. In contrast, PacBlue’s waterless press eliminates 98 percent of

Lillian Vernon, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based cataloger and online retailer specializing in household, organizational, children’s and fashion accessory products, has gone back to its roots in search of future success. The company’s catalog has reverted to its more unique dimensions, 8 inches by 8 inches, after a four-year departure. The 56-year-old multichannel merchant first introduced the square format in 1986, but in recent years had been using the more common 8 inches by 10 inches format. “It was such a well-known format for the core book that we wanted to return to it,” says Vice President of Marketing John Buleza. “It’s kind of in

Lillian Vernon’s year-plus road to recovery has seen a mix of return-to-roots and get-with-the-times changes. Many have worked, as president/CEO Mike Muoio reports. Here are three additional improvements the company has made: 1. Change the catalog size to preserve the brand. In 2004, Lillian Vernon changed the trim size of its catalog from its traditional 8-inch-by-8-inch format to an 8.5-inch-by-11-inch size. But the change had almost no impact on sales, and since the brand had been associated with 8-inch-by-8-inch books for more than 40 years, Muoio and his team reverted back to the old format last October. “People recognize 8-by-8 catalogs as Lillian Vernon books,”