eCommerce

An array of private equity firms are interested in The Body Shop.   The beauty retailer, which is owned by cosmetics giant L’Oreal, has drawn bids from around 15 private equity firms and companies, including Bain Capital, CVC Capital Partners, Carlyle Group LP and South Korea’s CJ Group, Bloomberg reported.   

Toys “R” Us reported declines in same-store sales for its fourth quarter and full year amid a highly competitive environment.   

Walmart has fired another shot at Amazon.   In a move that leverages the retail giant’s vast store and delivery networks and expanding online capabilities, Walmart, starting April 19, will begin offering a discount on merchandise that customers buy online and have shipped to a Walmart store for pick-up. Walmart’s new Pickup Discount program will initially be available only on about 10,000 items, but will be expanded to more than one million of the chain’s most popular items by the end of June.   

Meijer is putting its home delivery expansion plan into motion.   Meijer is preparing to launch its home delivery service throughout Ohio. The service will launch in Cincinnati and Dayton on April 27; Columbus on May 4; and Toledo later this summer.   

J.McLaughlin is in a growth phase. Armed with a new cloud-based retail platform, the chain can more efficiently execute its plan.    The Brooklyn, New York-based retailer is a specialty apparel chain that operates 115 stores and an e-commerce site. In November 2015, private equity investment firm Brentwood Associates acquired a majority stake in J.McLaughlin, and in July 2016, former Ralph Lauren executive Mary Ellen Coyne came aboard as CEO.   

Amazon Jeff Bezos is certainly not sitting back and relaxing in his company’s success.      As his annual letter to shareholders reveals, Bezos is spending a lot of time thinking how his company can remain vibrant and successful. The letter repeats a theme that the executive brought up in his letter last year: how to keep alive the animal spirits that led Amazon to greatness, reported the Seattle Times.  

Rouse properties has announced plans to enter into a joint venture agreement with Devonwood Investors in the transformation of an outdated Burlington, Vermont, mall into a mixed-use center. The deal is expected to be closed in the coming weeks.   Burlington Town Center, a traditional enclosed mall in the center of the state’s largest city, is to be converted into a modern apartment block including restaurants and an upgraded retail component.  

Amazon’s third-party sellers are hackers’ latest victims.   In recent weeks, attackers targeted the growing population of third-party sellers on Amazon.com, using stolen credentials from dormant accounts to sell nonexistent merchandise at bargain prices, and then collect the cash, according to Fox Business.