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When it comes to domestic divas, Martha Stewart has few rivals, but Ellen DeGeneres is dipping her toe in the water with a new seasonal home collection branded as E.D. On Air.

The popular comedian and talk show host announced the creation of her new lifestyle collection in July called simply E.D. The new seasonal home collection is called E.D. On Air because it was created exclusively for QVC. It will debut on Friday, October 8 when DeGeneres introduces the line live on her show.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. plans to hire more than 63,000 seasonal associates—more than Walmart—at its stores, call centers and distribution centers nationwide for the 2014 holiday season. (Walmart previously announced it was hiring 60,000 seasonal associates.)  

Merrillville, Ind. -- DirectBuy, the membership-based buying organization that enables consumers to purchase from manufacturers and suppliers without retail markup, has named a new executive leadership team. This new team is led by new CEO Mike Bornhorst, who comes to DirectBuy after spending time in leadership positions with companies such as ADT and Culligan Water.   

By Gary Ambrosino, President and CEO of TimeTrade   Hidden in the onslaught of negative headlines about former retail heavyweights, like JC Penney and Sears, is a slew of less-publicized, good news from smaller—many formerly online-only—retailers that are not only weathering the storm but are thriving.   

Amazon once again takes the lead in disruptive news with reports it will open its first-ever physical store in New York City on West 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building and down the street from the iconic Macy’s flagship store. Even more than for its impressive location, the store is notable as the ultimate symbol of the continuing primacy of brick-and-mortar in the omnichannel environment.

 

Amazon has sweetened the value proposition for its Prime members this holiday season by offering a 30 minute head start on select Lightning Deals on Amazon.com and daily sales events at MyHabit.com.

The early access deals feature is the latest enhancement to Amazon’s Prime membership which is best known for providing free two day shipping to members who pay a $99 annual fee. The feature brings elements of the competitive shopping behavior to Amazon by creating a sense of urgency to make purchases before the goods are gone.

Indianapolis – Lids Sports Group has acquired Jersey City Canada, a licensed sports apparel, headwear and novelty company operating 28 stores across four Canadian provinces. In addition, the acquisition includes nine headwear-only Capz stores, and two websites.  

By Mike Moriarty, A.T. Kearney

Well, well, well. Amazon is opening a store.  Isn’t that nice!

Now, does that make the company an enormous on-line retailer with “a store”, or does it make Amazon a small to mid-sized retailer with an enormous online presence?

It almost doesn’t make any difference — and that in itself makes a difference. Welcome to planet Earth, Amazon!

Genesco’s Lids division has acquired Jersey City Canada, a licensed sports apparel, headwear and novelty company operating 28 retail stores across four Canadian Provinces.  

The acquisition includes nine headwear only Capz stores, and two websites operating under www.jerseycity.ca and www.CFLshop.ca. Partnering with the CFL, Lids will become the online provider of the Canadian Football League officially licensed merchandise. With this acquisition, Lids will now operate more than 150 locations across Canada, an increase of roughly 35%.

Just in time for the holiday season, Amazon is going brick-and-mortar with its first-ever physical store, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The store, which will be located across from the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan, will serve as a mini-warehouse, with limited inventory for same-day delivery within New York City, product returns and exchanges and pickups of online orders, according to the report.