Strategy

Phoenix -- Jeff Green, president of Jeff Green Partners, and Jerry Hoffman, president of Hoffman Strategy Group, have announced a formal collaboration to expand their companies’ work on complex, mixed-use feasibility research including retail, residential, office and hotel uses.

Chicago -- The list of online retailers jumping into the offline space keeps getting longer. And this one has celebrity underpinnings.

New York -- Crate & Barrel has nabbed a CEO from the executive ranks of a much more upscale competitor.

The home furnishings retailer named Doug Diemoz, currently chief development officer at Restoration Hardware, as CEO, effective Aug. 1. He replaces Sascha Bopp, who was named CEO in 2012 but left in August 2014. Crate & Barrel COO and CFO Adrian Mitchell has been interim CEO during the search for a permanent replacement.

New York -- J.Crew Group, a company struggling to regain its mojo, is jumping into the value category.

The company announced it will launch a new store banner, J.Crew Mercantile, selling lower-priced (“value-driven”) merchandise with classic J. Crew styles for women, men and children. The first J.Crew Mercantile store will open in late July, at The Shops at Park Lane in Dallas. The retailer plans to open more Mercantile stores in strip centers and some malls, Bloomberg reported.

Peoria, Ill. - Cullinan Properties has acquired an approximately 264-acre site located at the northeast intersection of interstates 55 and 80 in Joliet, Illinois. The property was purchased from O & S Holdings, LLC who acquired the property in 2008, and originally entered into an agreement to develop a project known as Bridge Street Town Center.

However, with the sale of the property, O & S Holdings has terminated the original development agreement. “

Salt Lake City – Overstock.com is expanding the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables for its customers. The off-price e-commerce retailer already makes fresh farm-grown produce available to nearly half of Americans through its online farmers market store, which serves customers in 35 states.

When it comes to payments, times are changing. Fast. Retailers find themselves in an uncertain world: after a few rough years of data breaches, theft, and fraud, retailers are already feeling pretty beat up. But despite a resulting emphasis on data security and privacy, retailers find they have no room to pause while they secure their enterprises as tightly as they would like. Consumers are moving fast, and retailers must keep up.

San Jose, Calif. – The upcoming spinoff of its PayPal unit may not be the only deal eBay Inc. has in the works.

According to Reuters, eBay is in advanced talks with private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP to acquire eBay’s enterprise business for close to $1 billion.

New York - Tiffany & Co. turned to a main competitor when it was time to find a new global business executive. Tiffany has named Philippe Galtié to the position of senior VP international, effective Aug. 17.

Galtié, 54, most recently held the post of Cartier’s international retail director. He began his career with a range of general management and global marketing roles at Moët-Hennessy, Mars Inc., Eridania Beghin Say and the Nestlé Group.

San Diego – Net income at warehouse club retailer PriceSmart Inc. stayed essentially flat at $21.2 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to $21.3 million in the prior year period. Meanwhile, total revenues rose 13% to $697.1 million, from to $615 million.

Higher income taxes kept PriceSmart’s profits flat even as rising export sales and membership income boosted total revenues. Same-store sales increased 4% during June 2015, compared to the same month in the previous year.