Retail

Hamilton, Bermuda -- Signet Jewelers Limited and Zale Corporation have announced the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, in connection with the proposed acquisition of Zale by Signet.

The expiration of the HSR Act waiting period satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the proposed acquisition, which remains subject to approval by Zale’s stockholders and certain other customary closing conditions.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that William Hutchinson will join the company as senior VP and president, supply chain. Hutchinson, who most recently served as VP of global fulfillment and logistics for Dell, succeeds Raj Penkar who has led the company's supply chain business unit since 2011. Penkar will retire from Sears Holdings on May 31.

In his new role with the company, Hutchinson will be accountable for all aspects of the company's supply chain, including distribution, transportation, customs compliance and global sourcing.

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey’s General Stores has selected Softeon’s warehouse managements ystem (WMS), as well as its load planning, yard management, and labor management applications, to improve efficiency and accuracy of its DC operations and drive additional throughput from existing DCs to enable them to support addition of new retail stores in the same physical footprint.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores has debuted its new brand campaign, based on the word “Yes.” A 60-second commercial, featuring designer Vera Wang, unveils the “Yes” campaign using striking visuals and artists’ renderings of the letters “Y,” “E,” and “S.”

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corporation completed its spin-off of Lands' End Inc. on April 4. The specialty apparel company has now been separated from Sears Holdings and its common stock is expected to begin regular-way trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "LE" on April 7.

By Ken Nisch, JGA

New York -- The month of March saw a steep rise in smartphone-generated traffic, orders, and revenue by consumers to retailer smartphone-optimized websites over the year-ago period, according to mobile commerce platform Branding Brand. In March 2014, smartphones generated 29.4% of total online visits, up 42.7% from March 2013 (62.9% iOS, 36.4% Android). The market share of non-mobile (desktop) visits decreased 21.1% from March 2013 to March 2014.

Holmdel, N.J. — Levin Management has been named the exclusive leasing agent for Holmdel Crossing, a planned 140,000-sq.-ft. retail development in Holmdel, N.J.

According to Levin, pre-leasing efforts will focus on identifying anchor or junior anchor tenants that will drive the remaining retail tenancy,