eCommerce

Toronto - Staples Canada is expanding its Bullfrog Power partnership to support renewable energy in four additional stores. Through the partnership, Bullfrog Power injects clean, renewable electricity onto the grid to match the amount of energy the Staples facilities use.

By Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Oracle Retail

Oak Brook, Ill. - Dollar Tree has signed a 12,767-sq.-ft. lease at Pelham Manor Shopping Plaza in Pelham, New York, bringing the center to 100% leased for the first time since it opened in 2008. The 228,000-sq.-ft. center caters to the surrounding neighborhoods of Pelham Manor, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and the north Bronx.

Acquired in 2013, the center features national retailers such as BJ's Wholesale Club, PetSmart, Michaels and more. Dollar Tree will be located next to Five Guys Burgers and Fries and is expected to open in early November.

Eden Prairie, Minn. - ShopHQ, a multichannel electronic retailer, has selected Manhattan’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) to help the company increase throughput and capacity of its distribution and fulfillment operations. The software deployment is part of an expansion of the company’s Bowling Green, Kentucky-based distribution center, which will more than double in size from 260,000 sq. ft. to 600,000 sq. ft. by the end of 2015.

Austin, Texas - Whole Foods Market and one-hour grocery delivery service Instacart are launching a new partnership that enables customers to have Whole Foods Market products delivered in as little as one hour. Customers will soon also have the option to place orders via Instacart and pick up their order at a local Whole Foods Market store.

Ottawa, Canada - The retailers who “won” during the holiday season in 2013 were those that offered meaningful discounts on a sizable number of products on Black Friday instead of discounting a small number of door crashers. According to analysis from 360pi and Retail Systems Research, poor financial performance followed those retailers who discounted during the week leading into Black Friday, and those who kept discounts in place following Cyber Monday generally fared better than those who raised prices.

Brisbane, Calif. – Bebe Stores Inc. reported a preliminary net loss of $24.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, up from $20.8 million the second quarter of the prior fiscal year. The loss includes costs related to the discontinuation of Bebe’s 2b business, which was shut down July 5.

Net sales were $103.6 million, a decrease of 9% from $113.5 million. Same-store sales dropped 1.9%.

Jim Wiggett, CEO, remained optimistic in his comments about Bebe’s future:

By Sanford Stein, founder, Stein LLC

With the point-of-sale tucked away in one’s backpack, pocket or purse, how does the store-based retailer expect to survive in an e-everything world? And what is to become of the malls, the meccas of economic indulgence that were driven by the shop-till-you-drop dynamic we thought would last forever? We are currently in a period of just such a change wave, driven by a dramatic demographic shift, corporate downsizing, economic stagnation, and rising costs.