Finance & Capital Management

Hangzhou, China – A week after unveiling a cloud protection plan and releasing more than 60 new cloud products and solutions through its cloud computing subsidiary Aliyun, Alibaba is not standing still.

The Chinese Internet giant is firmly staking a claim in the cloud with the planned investment of an additional $1 billion to fuel further growth at Aliyun.

Minneapolis – An unconfirmed executive departure at Target Corp. will have major ramifications on its digital and mobile retail operation if the report is accurate.

According to Re/Code, Alan Wizemann, VP of product for Target.com and mobile, is leaving the company for unspecified reasons.

TJX has been on a growth and revenue spree of late, and now the off-price retailer is apparently looking to expand down under.

Boston – When it comes to managing records and information, retailers are surprisingly lax compared to members of many other industries.

According to a new study from enterprise information management provider Iron Mountain, just one in three retail businesses have a records and information manager.

Framingham, Mass. – The TJX Cos. Inc. apparently has a taste for vegemite.

TJX is purchasing Trade Secret, an off-price retailer that operates 35 stores in Australia, from Gazal Corp. Ltd. for $58.45 million. The acquisition of Trade Secret provides TJX an opportunistic entry into Australia, where it currently operates one of its 13 buying offices.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market on Wednesday posted disappointing third quarter earnings and revenue, but it also gave out some more details about its new, value-driven store concept.

The company revealed that it will debut the format, 365 by Whole Foods Market, in the second half of next year, with the first store opening in the Silver Lake section of Los Angles. It plans to open up to five 365 stores (all in the second half of next year), with the expectation of doubling the number of openings in 2017. Stores will average about 30,000 sq. ft.

Whole Foods Market Inc. says it is taking the right steps to position itself for the long term and sees demand for more than 1,200 stores in the United States despite reporting a lackluster increase in same store sales for the third quarter.  

The health foods grocery retailer posted a same store sales increase of just 1.3% for third quarter ended July 5. Analysts had expected a 3% increase. The company did report  earnings of 43 cents per share on $3.63 billion in revenue. Total sales increased 8% to a record $3.6 billion.

A veteran retailer with experience in running big national chains has joined City Sports as its new chief executive.