Dhanya Skariachan breaks the story that Sears will permanently allocate 1,500 to 1,800 square feet of floor space for toys at 85 existing Sears stores next month. The shops are primarily aimed at moms of two-to-five year olds. "We have a very aggressive plan for growing our toy business," says Julia Fitzgerald, CMO for Sears' toy business. Sears ran a pilot program in 20 department stores last year that proved the concept. The stores will carry products from makers such as Mattel, LeapFrog Enterprises and Schylling, a maker of retro products such as tin jack-in-the-boxes. Sears' …

Matt Schwartz has a detail-rich piece on how Evan and Daren Metropoulos -- the jet-setting bros whose billionaire dad ("Mr. Shelf Space" C. Dean Metropoulos) now owns Pabst Brewing -- intend to maintain the formerly working-class brewski as a darling of hipsters. And much more. It's like dropping in on a strategy session. Take their discussion of the defunct Red White & Blue brand. "What if we made that the military beer?" posits Evan. "What if we gave a huge portion of the proceeds to military charities -- a grassroots program with military families? Why shouldn't Red White …

Goya Foods, whose canned beans, jars of olives and adobo seasoning have been a staple in Latino households in the Northeast for decades, hopes to attract a broader market with a new advertising campaign and mobile marketing effort, Tanzina Vega reports. Focus group studies turned up an interesting insight into its prior marketing to the general public. "We realized that we were talking to general market consumers like they were Latinos," says Alain Groenendaal, president and CEO of Wing, the unit of the Grey Group of WPP that is Goya's agency. "Instead of teaching people to cook Latino, …

Stephen Gandel admits that he was late to the game when he had a feeling about Blockbuster's looming bankruptcy back in April, but CEO James Keyes told him otherwise. But he gathered a lot of rich material back then for a story never written that might serve as a cautionary note to others. "When Viacom owned Blockbuster, they tried to turn the stores into a dumping ground of Viacom merchandise," he writes. "Dolls and toys and books and other stuff." Like popcorn and pizza. Natural as it may sound, they didn't sell. Keyes told him in …

How, at age 76, do you get people going gaga over your cutting-edge sense of style? Precisely -- at least in the case of Giorgio Armani, last widely revered for his power suits in the Age of Disco. The 24-year-old pop star fashionista Lady Gaga has put Armani "in a new creative spotlight -- individuality, edge, futuristic style," retail-brand consultant Tom Julian tells Christina Passariello. He has done this by dressing her in such raiments as a crystal-encrusted silver hoop dress with orbiting rings for the Grammy Awards and a black rubberized dress with spikes sticking out from the …