Amazon is setting up pop-up shops in San Francisco's downtown Westfield Centre mall and in Sacramento next week, designed to showcase the e-retailer's latest devices, including the Fire phone, Fire TV, Fire tablets, and Kindles. The e-retail giant has opened kiosks in the past, but only for the holiday season. No word on whether the retailer will maintain its brick-and-mortar presence.

Some of the most powerful brands are playing it for laughs, with GE, Google, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Nestl hiring increasing numbers of stand-up comedians, improv masters and comedy troupes to produce and star in their advertising. The campaigns, often short-form digital videos, are racking up millions of views and putting even staid-seeming brands into Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Procter & Gamble chief A.G. Lafley is reassuring shareholders his turnaround plan will power growth from a smaller group of 70-80 large core brands. "This is not a break-up, this is not a fire sale," Lafley told one shareholder Tuesday, during the company's annual meeting at Duke Energy Convention Center. "We'll create a faster-growing, more profitable company that's easier to manage. This is not about being big, it's about being better - best."

Add Sears to the list of retailers selling offensive products: The company has been selling Swastika rings labeled as "men's punk rock style" jewelry. It's "not for neo-Nazi or any Nazi implication," the site read before Sears took down the listing. "These jewelry items are going to make you look beautiful at your next dinner date." As a result, Sears posted an apology, blaming "independent third-party sellers" for the snafu.

Don't have enough American Express points for a flight, ballet tickets or even a yoga mat? Turn them into a Big Mac: Starting this week, AmEx's U.S. cardholders can spend points at select McDonald's. The deal is a landmark, and AmEx's first in letting cardholders redeem points at a cash register.

YouTube is opening its YouTube Space in New York in hipster central Chelsea Market, a block away from parent Google. The facility, like the ones it has opened in London, Los Angeles and Tokyo is a 20,000-square-foot space that includes a kind of Madison and Meat (Packing district) project called BrandLab, where brands can create content that might just look good on YouTube, boosting the channels ad revenue. The lab is slated to open Nov. 6.

The Mazda may go "Hummmm" again. After years of hints, promises and denials, Mazda finally appears to be moving towards the re-launch of its once-familiar rotary engine, with a concept model said to be in the works for 2017, and a production model to follow three years later. But the purpose may have changed a bit: it would be part of a plug-in hybrid that would take advantage of the compact engine's advantages while offsetting its traditional design limitations.

A year after being open on Thanksgiving for the first time, Macy's may be opening even earlier on that day. Media reports say executives have emailed employees telling them store will open on 6 p.m. Macy's officials declined to comment on their holiday hours on Thursday. WPXI in Pittsburgh got a copy of a Macy's email saying "competitive pressure" is pushing an early opening.

J.C. Penney on Monday announced that it has hired veteran Marvin Ellison to replace CEO Mike Ullman in August 2015, making him the first African American CEO in the company's 112-year history. He joins the board and takes over as president on Nov.1. Ellison, EVP of U.S. stores at Home Depot, will also be the first black executive to lead a national department store chain.

With MLB post-season in full swing, the NFL in over-drive, Nascar running its Chase for the Sprint Cup, and the NHL at the rink, the NBA has unveiled a multi-platform marketing campaign. The effort, "Everybody Up!", launches with an intro spot, "Roll Call," that is jammed with a bevy and current stars, coaches, fans, dancers, mascots, Grammy-winning musician Common and social media images.