Retail

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples is changing its logo by removing the bent staple that forms the “L” in “Staples.” Initially, Staples is excluding the bent staple in its logo in a number of places, including its e-commerce site and the company's social channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and the easyBlog.

Private equity firm Bain Capital concluded 2013 with the acquisition of Bob’s Discount Furniture, an operator of 47 stores in the Northeast that is intent on expansion.

Bain acquired a majority ownership position in the Manchester, Conn.-based company and said senior management will continue to own a significant stake. Current CEO Ted English will continue to lead the company whose first order of business for 2014 is entry into the Philadelphia market.

Aldi already has a reputation for low prices and now it wants to shore up shoppers’ perception of quality with a new brand called SimplyNature.

The operator of 1,300 no frills food stores said the chainwide introduction of SimplyNature is a reflection of its commitment to emphasize impressively high quality products at impossibly low prices. SimplyNature features simple foods such as cereal, honey, fruit bars, apple juice, pasta sauce and snacks that are made with only all-natural or organic ingredients.

New York -- Macy’s and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have reached a confidential settlement in their ongoing legal dispute over whether Martha Stewart breached a contract by selling certain goods at J.C. Penney Co.

Martha Stewart and Macy’s both said the terms of the settlement aren’t material to their businesses. In a separate statement, Macy's said that the settlement did not affect its outstanding claim against Penney.

Food safety and compliance issues earned Walmart some unwanted attention this week after it was learned that snacks made with donkey meat in China were also found to contain fox meat.

New York — Target Corp. said a “small percentage” of its gift cards were not properly activated and, as a result, are not working properly when customers try to redeem them.

“We are aware that some Target gift cards were not fully activated and apologize for the inconvenience,” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an e-mail, Reuters reported.

Altoona, Pa. — David Woodley, VP of sales and marketing for convenience store chain Sheetz, has moved into the executive VP spot vacated by Louie Sheetz.

Alfred Marshall, a founder of the Marshalls department store chain in the mid-1950s, died Saturday, Dec. 28 in Boca Raton, Fla., at the age of 94, according to a New York Times report.

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