eCommerce

Peoria, Ill. — Cullinan Properties has named Patty Kueneke senior real estate representative. She will lease and sell existing and newly developed properties including the Streets of St. Charles in the St. Louis metro area and the Shoppes at River Hill in Topeka, Kan.

By Dave Bruno, Director of Product Marketing, JDA Software

Dallas – Paragon Software Systems Inc., a provider of vehicle routing and scheduling optimization solutions, is introducing Paragon HDS (Home Delivery System) to the U.S. market. Paragon HDS is designed to enable home delivery and home service companies to offer more accurate delivery times while improving fleet efficiency.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced plans to open at a Nordstrom Rack at The Shops at River Walk in Bakersfield, Calif. The approximately 35,000-sq-ft. store is scheduled to open in spring 2015.

The new Nordstrom Rack will be the company's first location in Bakersfield.

Minneapolis — Twin Cities’ fashion retailer “Len” has renewed its lease at Minneapolis City Center with a seven-year commitment. The existing 7,196-sq.-ft. store is the retailer’s only downtown location following the consolidation of several brands and stores over the last six months. The chain operates five more locations in Minnesota and one in Illinois.

Minneapolis City Center is the two-story retail portion of a 1.6 million mixed-use property owned by Shorenstein Properties LLC.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reportedly plans to open an additional 40 to 50 wholesale cash-and-carry stores in India during the next four years and also launch an Indian e-commerce operation. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart will begin e-commerce sales in India during summer 2014 with one wholesale store offering goods online and delivering them for pickup at other local retailers up to about 25 miles away.

Cambridge, Mass. – Retail visual merchandising solution provider RBM Technologies has named E.Y. Snowden its new president and CEO. Snowden was previously CEO of Boston Communications Group and president of APC/Sprint Spectrum.

In addition, RBM has closed a $9.5 million round of growth equity financing led by Spring Lake Equity Partners. RBM plans to use the financing to enhance its products and enter the international mobile market and new retail verticals.

Washington, D.C. – In a statement submitted to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on April 8, the National Retail Federation (NRF) urged Congress to address what it sees as an increasing threat to retailers: patent trolls. Patent trolls are entities that purchase overly-broad patents with the sole intent of suing retailers and other end-users of technology that allegedly infringe on those patents.