Walmart

Mirror, mirror in her hand, is Rebecca Minkoff one of the most innovative retailers in the land?   The specialty retailer is inching closer to this title as it brings its store-level smart mirror experience into its shoppers hands through a new app. Specifically, the app from Zeekit allows consumers to virtually “try on” fashions before buying online or trying them on in-store.  

With its deal to buy Jet.com officially close, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon decided to answer a question that many folks have been asking: Why Jet.com?   In a blog on its website, McMillon listed the top five reasons it bought the online startup. The top reason: to better serve Walmart customers and reach new ones.  

It’s official: Wal-Mart is ready to service a new online customer base.   Wal-Mart’s acquisition of Jet.com was finalized yesterday, a move that extends the chain’s already vast digital presence.  

Photo: Vidya Jwala   Overstock.com has nabbed a Walmart VP.   The online retailer named Vidya Jwala as senior VP of demand fulfillment, responsible for overseeing the e-commerce leader’s sourcing, merchandising, supply chain and customer-care businesses.   Jwala joins Overstock from Walmart, where, as VP of merchandising and operations, he focused on merchandising planning, category management, pricing and costing.  

Brick-and-mortar retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy are not only surviving online, but are thriving due to their sizable physical assets and digital investments.   That’s one of the main findings of a new report by Moody's Investors Service, which says that while Amazon keeps raising the stakes online and has a decade-plus advantage over other retailers in e-commerce, it still faces intense competition from the likes of Walmart and Best Buy, who are raising the bar online for other physical merchants.   

Walmart Canada is extending its ban on accepting Visa credit cards.   The discounter said it will stop accepting Visa credit cards at all 16 of its stores in Canada’s Manitoba province starting on Oct. 24.   

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has appointed Bryan Pugh to the newly created position of executive VP, stores and store operations. He will lead financial, operational and cultural leadership of Jo-Ann Stores.
    
Pugh joins Jo-Ann from Fred’s Pharmacy & Super Dollar where he served as executive VP, chief merchandising and marketing officer. His experience also includes serving as senior VP, chief merchandising officer at Walgreen Co. in addition to several roles of increasing responsibility at Tesco.
 

Officials in Sarasota, Florida, are envisioning building a mixed-use project on the site of the town’s Ringling Shopping Center, the site over which Walmart lost a fight to build a new store.

The 9.7-acre site could accommodate 222 residential units and 175,000 sq. ft. of office and retail space. Customer traffic at Ringling Shopping Center, Sarasota’s oldest, had fallen off precipitously in recent years.

Eloquii, a fast-growing, plus-size women’s fashion apparel manufacturer and online-only player, has expanded its executive team with two experienced retailers.    The retailer named Michael Concannon as chief technology officer. He most recently served as CTO of Quidsi, an Amazon-owned e-commerce company where he oversaw long-term technical strategy and maintained technical leadership for the entire platform of six sites including diapers.com.    

MoneyGram and Walmart on Tuesday announced the launch of a new state-of-the-art online money transfer platform that offers customers new features and a streamlined experience when sending money through <a href="http://walmart.moneygram.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 100000px; color: rgb(0, 83, 160); text-decoration: none; border: 0px; outline: none; font-family: open_sansregular, Arial, Helvetica, sans