Just when Kohl's has been called out for having little relevance to pop culture compared with other major American retail brands, the queen of mid-range apparel chains strikes back.

Kohl's latest campaign features its best-known designer name, Jennifer Lopez, in a mock music video, "I've Got the Music In Me," that aims to make the department store chain more relevant to younger audiences. And that's not the brand's only high-profile musical duetContinue reading...

Kohl's joined Walmart and a handful of other up-and-coming masters of retailing in spreading bricks-and-mortar stores nationwide during a suburban building boom over the last quarter-century. Now, however, Kohl's real estate ambitions are waning as the mid-priced, discount-savvy soft-goods retailer deals with the effects of online retailing and slower growth overall in its physical stores.

At the same time, the Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based chain, with more than 1,100 stores coast-to-coast, is investing more heavily in its own e-tailing operation, as it faces stiffer competition from Target and the newly revamped JCPenney.

"Online is really the wave of the future, of course, where retail is moving and has been moving — especially for retailers [like Kohl's] that don't have a grocery component," Erika Maschmeyer, retailing analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., told brandchannel. "They just don't need as many or the same size of stores now with the internet."Continue reading...

Now in the second year of a lifestyle brands deal with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony despite their personal break-up, Kohl's is sponsoring the former couple's reality series on Univision, ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen, which premieres on Saturday, March 3rd on FOX. 

The his-and-hers celeb tie-ins come at an interesting time for Kohl's, which is cutting back on bricks-and-mortar stores in order to focus on e-commerce. Watch a promo, above, for the estranged couple's new FOX series, and the promos for their new spring collections below.Continue reading...

In the next strange chapter of reality TV, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony talk candidly about why their marriage failed — and Kohl's will be along for the ride.

In 2010 the middle-market retailer from Wisconsin signed JLo and her then-husband to put their names on his-and-hers clothing and lifestyle collections. But last summer, after Lopez scored big as a new judge on American Idol and was named People magazine's "most beautiful woman in the world," the marriage was falling apart — just as their Kohl's collections were hitting stores.

Kohl's has continued to sell the celebs' clothing lines, sweetening the partnership as the exclusive retail sponsor for their new Spanish-language television series in the vein of Idol.Continue reading...

It's channeled Elvis, taken over Times Square, and slipped into a Gucci racing stripe for New York Fashion Week. Now Fiat USA is promoting the Fiat 500 in a new 30-second trailer that's breaking during ESPN's Monday Night Football telecast tonight.

The Chrysler-owned brand struck a product placement deal to feature the 2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio in Lopez's new music video, Papi, the latest single from her new album. As part of the agreement, Lopez will appear in commercials for the 2012 Fiat 500 which are scheduled to debut later in the year.Continue reading...

Talk about a show-stopper. No, not Lady Gaga's cross-dressing performance as Jo Calderone. It was Beyoncé's surprise revelation at the MTV Video Music Awards that she and husband Jay-Z are expecting a baby that shocked observers, prompting 8,868 tweets per second as the news spread on Aug. 28, setting a record for the site.

Now, as Beyoncé prepares to add "mom" to her list of credits, fans are wondering what this is going to do to her career. Will it delay the filming of her next movie? Will it cost her the love of young male hip hoppers?

Forbes suggests that this new chapter in the lives of hop hop’s king and queen doesn’t have to be a bad thing brandwise. Instead, this may open up a lot of doors for the pair, who placed second in Forbes’ annual list of top-earning celebrity couples. They brought in $72 million, behind only the whopping $76 million pulled in by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen.Continue reading...

Alfa Romeo delays full return to US.

Amazon introduces digital textbook rentals.

American Airlines splits order between Airbus and Boeing.

Apple directors ponder succession.

BMW grows cautious on developed markets.

Borders succumbs to digital era as Barnes & Noble focuses on e-books.

Campbell expands lower-sodium soup options.Continue reading...

News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch and son James prepare to testify Tuesday before a British parliamentary hearing on phone-hacking scandal as former News of the World whistleblowing journalist is found dead and The Sun's website is hacked.

Borders calls off auction, announces plans to liquidate and close doors by September.

Cisco slashes workforce by 11,500 positions.

Apple seeks to expand iPhone availability in China.

CNN is first TV network to stream 24/7 online and on mobile.

Delta cuts service to smaller markets.

Dunkin' Brands leads wave of IPOs in the US.Continue reading...