Direct To Consumer (DTC)

Chine-based e-commerce company DHgate allows consumers and business to purchase goods directly from Chinese manufacturers and has big growth plans after hiring veterans of Amazon, Google, eBay and Alibaba.

Fort Myers, Fla. — Chico’s FAS Inc. is reportedly considering taking itself private. According to Financial Times, the women’s apparel retailer has been holding talks with several private equity firms in recent weeks.

Houston — Francesca’s Holdings Corp. on Tuesday reported a 21% drop in profit during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, to $8.6 million from $10.9 million.  Harsh winter weather and higher expenses related to its boutique business contributed to the decline in net income. The company also reduced its annual outlook.

Francesca’s plans to open 85 new stores during fiscal 2014, including 16 in the second quarter.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — HSN Inc. has promoted Maria Martinez to chief HR officer, effective immediately. In her new role, she will be responsible for providing leadership in executing human resources strategies in support of the company's business objectives.

She will have specific responsibility for talent acquisition and assessment, succession planning, leadership development, employee engagement, performance management, total rewards, and wellness programs. She will continue to be based at the company's headquarters in St. Petersburg.

Maria Martinez was elevated to the role of chief human resources officer at HSN, Inc., a $3.4 billion interactive multichannel retailer.

A new app from Seattle-based Shoppost bills itself as the first in-stream e-commerce app that lets online retailers sell via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

Shoppost is a free app that gathers product information and pulls it into an interactive post that can be shared via social channels in a few clicks. The app is available for free to sellers who use BigCommerce and Shopify with additional e-commerce platform support rolling out in the near future, according to the company.

New York — Sycamore Partners announced Monday that it bought the going-out-of-business Coldwater Creek brand and other intellectual property through an affiliate company during the  apparel chain’s  bankruptcy proceedings.  The private equity firm said it plans to re-launch Coldwater Creek as an independent portfolio company, but it did not give a timeline for the launch.

Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.

Atlanta — Shapewear wholesaler and retailer Spanx announced that Jan Singer has been named CEO of the company. She joins Spanx from Nike, where she held various senior leadership roles, including corporate VP of global apparel and corporate VP of global footwear.  

Singer, who will report to Spanx founder and owner Sara Blakely, is expected to come on board in early July.  Gregg Ribatt, interim CEO, will assist Singer through a transition, and then continue to serve on the company’s board of advisors.

Indianapolis — Lids Sports Group is acquiring Cardboard Heroes, a licensed sports apparel, headwear and novelty retailer headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. The acquisition consists of 19 Cardboard Heroes stores in Ohio and Kentucky, which include four Buckeye Room locations that specialize in Ohio State University sports merchandise, as well as the e-commerce websites cheroes.com and buckeyeroom.com.

From the 156-year-old Macy’s to the online startup Zady, Fast Company’s annual ranking of “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Retail” shows how diverse the retail landscape had become — and the changing nature of retail innovation.

Here’s a quick recap (I’ve added some comments following Fast Company’s qualifiers):

1. WARBY PARKER: For being the Warby Parker of Warby Parkers.