Transform SR Brands LLC

Hanford, Calif. – Passco Companies announced four leases at Hanford Mall located in Hanford, California. Set to open summer 2016, the new retailers include Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, Dunkin Donuts, and Pieology.

Target Corp. is hiring Arthur Valdez, a 16-year veteran of Amazon.com, as executive VP, chief supply chain and logistics officer.

Valdez will lead Target’s supply chain transformation including planning, distribution and transportation. He will report to Target’s executive VP and COO John Mulligan.

Minneapolis -- CBRE’s Capital Markets Investment Properties Group announced it has arranged the sale of White Bear Marketplace, located in St. Paul Minnesota, on behalf of its client, Oppidan Investment Company. CBRE’s SVP Jim Leary and senior associate Jeff Budish represented Oppidan Investment Company in the transaction.

The forces of disruption influencing so much of retail have finally arrived at one of the industry’s most tradition-bound segments. Retail trade events have changed little the past 20 years, but a new event called Shoptalk (May 16-18) is reimagining every aspect of the concept. Event co-founder and chairman Anil Aggarwal spoke with Retailing Today about Shoptalk, what it is, what it isn’t and how he plans to create a community of commerce innovators.

RT: What is Shoptalk?

Sears Holdings Corp. says its trend of deep same-store sales declines is slowing, but the company did report a wider loss in the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, Kmart and Sears same-store sales declined 7.2% and 6.9%, respectively, which was an improvement from the trend in the first three quarters of 2015. Sears reported a loss of $580 million, or $5.44 a share, compared with a loss of $159 million, or $1.50 a share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 9.8% to $7.3 billion.

When it comes to making online customers happy, one well-known name stands at the top.

Fourth quarter data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows Amazon.com led all online retailers with a score of 83.out of 100. Compared to the prior year, overall Internet retail customer satisfaction slipped 2.4% to a score of 80 out of 100. This still leads all other retail categories in the Index.

Move over Big Lots and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. Kmart is ready to begin making opportunistic purchases of closeouts and liquidated good in keeping with its strategic vision to make shopping fun again.

Kmart said its strategic merchandising group is actively sourcing extreme-value deals by purchasing the inventory of liquidated companies and capitalizing on other opportunistic situations to obtain outstanding products and offer unbeatable value.

A combined 7.1% same-store sales decline at Sear and Kmart stores in the fourth quarter has parent company Sears Holdings vowing to undertake a wide range expense reduction and cash generating moves, including more store closings and asset sales.