“As we approach the third anniversary since the acquisition of Crombie Kennedy Nasmark Inc. (CKN), our name will evolve from Advantage CKN to Advantage Sales and Marketing Canada,” said Henry Gerstel, President, ASM Canada. “This will provide a common name across North America and clearly identify our strong position in both the United States and Canada.”

On May 31, 2007, ASM Canada Inc., a Canadian subsidiary of Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC, acquired the business of Crombie Kennedy Nasmark Inc. (CKN).  Since the acquisition, the Canadian division has operated under the name of Advantage CKN—a combination of ASM with the heritage of Crombie Kennedy Nasmark (CKN).

When Advantage Sales and Marketing LLC (ASM), a consumer goods marketing and sales company, implemented a social learning platform, it shifted its whole approach to learning and measured outcomes.

Rather than attempt to launch social learning for the entire enterprise, which includes roughly 20,000 employees, ASM launched a narrowly focused pilot project within its business development team and carefully aligned it with the organization’s learning and talent management needs.

The company wanted to add a social learning component to its pre-existing Accelerated Career Excellence in Sales (ACES) program. The ACES program selects qualified individuals with little or no sales experience and places them in a five-month accelerated learning program to become business development managers. Participants come together for an initial two-day classroom session and then return to their home markets. They spend the next five months working in the field with designated mentors and completing e-learning modules.

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Please direct all correspondence and deliveries to the new office mailing address:

Advantage Sales and Marketing
123 Tice Blvd., Suite 300
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677

Phone numbers and e-mail address for the office and specific associates remain the same.

Source: MarketWatch

Dollar General, the nation’s largest retailer by number of stores, has announced plans to create approximately 5,000 new jobs this year to support the planned opening of 600 new stores over the next 12 months.

The 5,000 anticipated new jobs come on the heels of approximately 4,000 new jobs created by Dollar General in 2009, bringing the estimated total to 9,000 over two years.

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Walmart officials announced a series of changes at company, including the unification of operating divisions – Logistics, Real Estate and Store Operations under one  leadership team. The reorganization will create three distinctive geographic business units – Walmart West, Walmart South and Walmart North.

Walmart is also creating a new unit that will be responsible for driving online growth around the world – both in developed markets where the company has stores and an online presence and in markets it doesn’t. This new organization will be called Global.com.

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In one of the most telling signs yet of new consumer frugality, annual coupon use is on the rise for the first time since 1992, according to Inmar, a promotion transaction settlement company. Coupon distribution last year hit the highest level recorded since Inmar began tracking trends in 1988.

For the first time in 17 years, consumers used more coupons than the year before; 3.3 billion packaged-goods coupons were redeemed, a 27 percent increase over the 2.6 billion redeemed in 2008. The increase in coupon use began in October 2008, as the U.S. financial crisis took hold, and led to five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.

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The U.S. Agriculture Department trimmed its food inflation forecast for 2010, projecting prices at grocery stores and restaurants will rise at the same rate.

The USDA lowered the consumer price index for all food to gain 2.5% to 3.5% from its December forecast of 3% to 4%. The outlook changed because government forecasters don’t expect food prices at restaurants to advance as much as expected.

The USDA also pared its price inflation outlook for fish, oils and fats at grocery stores.

It affirmed its inflation targets for meats, cereal and sugar. Sugar prices are flirting with 29-year highs in the futures market due to tight global supplies.

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The retailer has also announced plans to expand its stores outside the U.S. and to develop and test a smaller store format for urban areas domestically.

Walmart is also in the midst of a remodeling initiative in many of its locations, experimenting with new layouts, signage, lighting and color schemes. They’ve also experimented with alternative store formats with their Neighborhood Market and Supermercado concepts.

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Target is experimenting with in-store bulk sales for the next few months in an attempt to attract customers from membership-based club stores Costco and Sam’s Club.

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“National Philanthropy Day acknowledges the entire spectrum of services provided by the nonprofit community and recognizes the profound impact that philanthropy has on the fabric of society,” said Hope Bradberry, President, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Northwest Arkansas Chapter. “Each year AFP honors individuals and groups like the Will Golf 4 Kids and Color of Hope Gala who, through their hard work and dedication, have enhanced philanthropy, their communities and the world.”

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) strives to advance philanthropy through education, training, mentoring, research, credentialing, and advocacy. The association fosters the development and growth of fundraising professionals and promotes high ethical standards in the fundraising profession.

“ASM’s contribution to the Will Golf 4 Kids and Color of Hope Gala through hard work and support has truly made an impact on our surrounding community,” said Kevin Kraning, Vice President, Walmart Team. “Winning this award brings all of our dedication full circle. Thank you to all who contributed to this outstanding organization.”

National Philanthropy Day is a special day set aside to recognize the great contributions of philanthropy—and those people active in the philanthropic community— to the enrichment of our world. The Northwest Arkansas chapter of AFP held their National Philanthropy Day Luncheon at the end of last year in Rogers, Ark. where all of the organization’s awards were presented.

About Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC
Founded in 1987, Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC (ASM) is a premier sales and marketing agency, committed to building brand value for our clients and customers. ASM’s cradle-to-cart—post-manufacture to consumption—customized sales and marketing solutions include headquarter sales, retail merchandising and marketing services, specializing in client and customer events, publications and assisted-selling services for the grocery, drugstore, club, convenience, natural/specialty, consumer electronic and home center industries. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., ASM has more than 20,000 associates and 66 offices in the United States and Canada. Visit www.asmnet.com today.