Retail

Babies"R"Us has entered into a strategic partnership with TheBump.com, a leading pregnancy and parenting website that offers advice, ideas, resources and support to first-time parents.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. will invest $5 million in a multi-year campaign to educate consumers about cybersecurity and the dangers of phishing scams.

North Plainfield, N.J. — Choice Pet Supply and H&R Block have signed long-term leases at the Mayfair Shopping Center in Commack, N.Y., according to Levin Management, Mayfair Shopping Center’s leasing representative.

Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate Inc. represented Choice Pet Supply, and Reinhardt, Becker, ford & Associates LLC represented H&R Block.

New York & Company CEO Gregory Scott is pleased with the company’s holiday performance. The operator of 514 stores has navigated through what it called a challenging retail environment to build on the momentum it generated in the first three quarters of the year.

Comparable-store sales for the nine-week period ended Jan. 4 increased 1%. Additionally, the specialty apparel chain narrowed its outlook for the 13-week fourth quarter ending Feb. 1.

New York -- Following news that luxury giant Neiman Marcus experienced network breaches over the holiday shopping season, similar to those of Target Corp., unidentified sources told Reuters that at least three other attacks on well-known merchants could be revealed in the coming weeks.

Walmart CEO Bill Simon was among a group of six senior excutives added to the National Retail Federations board of directors.

Simon will be joined by Beall’s CEO Steve Knopik, J.C. Penney CEO Myron Ullman, Tractor Supply CEO Greg Sandfort, SAP SVP Lori Mitchell-Kell and Utah Retail Merchants Association president Dave Davis.

The retailers were elected to the board Sunday, the opening day of NRF’s 103rd Annual Convention and EXPO. They will serve three-year terms.

The NRF 2014 Conference & Exposition kicked things off Sunday, Jan. 12 with sessions examining both how social media will continue to evolve as a dominant means of customer interaction and how the brick-and-mortar store will remain a highly relevant part of the retail environment in the 21st century. Let’s look at a few highlights from each session.

Picturing Social Success

Groupon has expanded its fashion and apparel footprint with its acquisition of Ideeli, a leading online flash fashion retailer, for $43 million in cash.

Ideeli was founded in 2007 and its members number in the millions.