Trading Partners

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – In its latest move to capitalize on the value of its real estate and raise more cash, Sears Holdings Corp. has formed a joint venture with Simon Property Group whereby Simon will take ownership of 10 Sears stores in Simon malls and lease them back to Sears, who will continue operating Sears stores in the venture. The stores include properties Sears has leased to other entities.

Starboard Value, the investment firm driving change at Staples, pushed the retailer to merge with Office Depot and now has achieved another of its goals with the addition of a new board member.

Sears Holdings will eventually need to sell more stuff to shoppers to remain viable as a retailer, but in the meantime the company has shown itself to be more adept at generating cash through complex real estate deals that unlock the value of an increasingly less productive store base.

Best Buy President and Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly has added the title of Chairman to his responsibilities at the retailer after long time board member Hatim Tyabji and several others decided to step down.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay and PayPal are clarifying how they will operate the first five years after their planed split into two public companies in the second half of 2015. PayPal Holdings filed an updated Form 10 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) laying out an operating agreement that maintains ties between the two companies while also ensuring they remain independent.

The parent company of Safeway and Albertson's has promoted its executive chairman and created a four-person Office of the CEO.

Weis Markets Inc. is losing one of its longest serving executives after the company announced that the chairman of the board is stepping down.

Robert F. Weis will not stand for re-election to its board of directors at the company's annual meeting of shareholders on April 23, the company said.

"We are deeply indebted to Robert for his 69 years of leadership and tireless dedication to our company," said Harold G. Graber, Jr., a director and secretary of the company.

Retailers and consumer goods companies already know that California leads the nation when it comes to burdensome regulatory requirements. Now, the situation could go from bad to worse with enforcement looming of a complex law known as the Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

San Francisco – Alibaba.com has collaborated with e-commerce platform to Bigcommerce deliver an integrated shopping experience for sourcing products from Alibaba.com’s network of Chinese wholesale suppliers. The Alibaba.com Wholesale solution is immediately available to Bigcommerce’s 70,000 stores, and online merchants can now access and purchase a collection of more than 30,000 products from about 300 of Alibaba.com’s Gold Suppliers in China with scope to expand to more than three million products from thousands of Gold Suppliers.

When evaluating the flooring in a new store or a remodel, installation is key.  Meet Mark Chichak with Halex Corp., who discusses how a company that doesn’t make the flooring – but, rather makes the installation materials and tools – can be a key partner in creating solutions for faster, easier and more profitable ways to build and remodel stores.