Q&As

Ace Hardware is joining the ranks of other top brands, including Burger King and Procter & Gamble, in the latest brand integration effort on The Apprentice. Only this time, there’s no promotion or new product launch attached to the show. Instead, the Oak Brook, IL-based hardware store chain, which will be featured April 10, is leveraging its first-ever Apprentice appearance with a national charitable campaign.

Simon malls reprises its Book Blast! kids’ promotion and Super Chefs Live! tour this month, while rival Mills malls partners with Minute Maid Co. and Bally Total Fitness for a family health push.

Netflix, the mail order movie-rental service, has sued Blockbuster Inc. for patent infringement, according to wire service reports.

The Australian government has proposed establishing a national telemarketing do-not-call registry similar to the one in place in the U.S.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are offering fans a reward program that gives them the opportunity to earn points for shopping both in and out of Dodger Stadium.

Product discounts far outweigh reward points when it comes to loyalty cards and grocery shopping, a recent study found.

Coca-Cola North America is reportedly launching a retail store in Canada that could be sticking a sharp elbow into Starbuck’s coffee pots.

The popularity of gift cards continues to soar.
In fact, eight in 10 respondents to a Web survey of adults reported they would rather receive a gift card to their favorite retailer than any other kind of gift

Arby’s is boosting its recent sponsorship of The Apprentice with an online sweepstakes and an interactive Web site tied to its new Chicken Naturals product line.

Up to the 1970s, The Sperry and Hutchinson Co. Inc. (S&H) printed the popular “green stamps,” which shoppers received when they bought items and later redeemed for toasters and water pitchers.