Finance & Capital Management

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.

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.

Milan, Italy – No matter how popular a company’s products might be, if they can’t reach consumers they won’t sell.

Global eyewear retailer Luxottica Group is recognizing this basic business fact with a new strategy to substantially increase distribution capacity in the U.S., China and Italy.

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.

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.

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

The Boston-based company tapped Marty Hanaka, who has served on the board of directors of City Sports since 2008, as its new chief executive. Hanaka was the interim CEO of Guitar Center from January 2013 to April 2013. Previously, he served as CEO of Golfsmith Holdings (from June 2008 to November 2012) and of The Sports Authority (from September 1998 to August 2003.) Prior to that, he was the president and COO of Staples.

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

A week after releasing more than 60 new cloud products and solutions through its cloud computing subsidiary Aliyun, Alibaba is making more bold moves.

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

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.