Trading Partners

Baseball’s great accidental philosopher Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” In the retail business, knowing where you’re going means understanding sales, inventory, promotions, pricing, and assortment.

Two weeks after publicly stating it had lost $56 million processing payments for Starbucks, Square no longer has to worry about future losses.

Starbucks has selected Chase Commerce Solutions, the global payment processing and merchant acquiring division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., to transition processing of all non-mobile payments and U.S. retail card payment transactions in company-operated stores. Chase will also partner with Starbucks on the rollout of chip-enabled payment terminals.

Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone is accelerating its growth plans in the United States by acquiring the Pep Boys auto parts chain, just as Americans are keeping their cars longer.

The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack Co. has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Bridgestone under which BSRO will acquire Pep Boys in an all-cash transaction for $15 per share, or approximately $835 million in aggregate equity value.

New York -- Brixmor Property Group named Michael Hyun as its new chief investment officer and as a member of the Company's Management Committee, effective Dec. 14. Hyun will be responsible for the strategic and day-to-day oversight of business development, portfolio management and capital recycling for Brixmor.

The produce department at Walmart is about to take on the appealing look of a country market thanks to a new supply chain and merchandising solution.

Walmart plans to begin using a new style of wood grain reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for wet and dry produce such as apples, potatoes, onions and citrus items.

Shoppers will take for granted that the products they buy are safe this holiday season, but behind scenes it requires a tremendous amount of effort to deliver on that expectation. Join Walmart, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and ICIX for a look at what’s next in the world of product safety during an upcoming webinar on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m., EST.

Williams-Sonoma has entered into an agreement with Mexico’s leading department store retailer to open stores in that country.

Williams-Sonoma said it will open 13 stores across its various brands — Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen and West Elm — In Mexico City, by the end of 2015. The stores are opening through a franchise partnership with Mexican department store retailer Liverpool.

Wegmans has confirmed the next location of the family-owned supermarket chain's 87th store.

The retailer plans to build a store in Lancaster, Pa. The store is expected to be up to 120,000 sq. ft. in size and similar in design to Wegmans’ newest stores.

Target on Monday officially opened the application process for its new startup accelerator program, created in partnership with Techstars and led by Target EIR (entrepreneur-in-residence) West Stringfellow. The retailer posted a Q&A with Stringfellow, who forged Target’s partnership with Techstars, on its Bullseye blog.

Here are highlights:

Start-ups looking to revolutionize retail have a significant new opportunity for support.