eCommerce

Veteran J.C. Penney merchant John Tighe has been elevated to fill the role of executive VP and chief merchant held by Liz Sweney who is retiring.

The change, announced Sept. 23, was effective immediately. Tighe and Sweeney joined the company in 2002 and 2000, respectively, and Sweney served as chief merchant since March 2012. She will remain with the company in an advisory role through year end.

Macy’s Inc. relatively new to the outlet sector but it’s making up for lost time.

On the heels of the debut of its Macy’s Backstage off-price format and the news that it would close up to 40 underperforming namesake stores, the retailer announced it will open two Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores in November, at The Shops at Liberty Place in Philadelphia, and at Westfield Mission Valley in San Diego.

An innovative cause marketing initiative involving Nordstrom’s Treasure&Bond brand is being expanded to more merchandise categories, and non-profit beneficiaries couldn’t be happier.

Austin, Texas -- GroundFloor Development and Prescott Group announced plans for Saint Elmo, a $120 million mixed-use project in Austin, Texas. Saint Elmo will include 225,000 sq. ft. of creative office space and feature a 40,000-sq.-ft. indoor-outdoor marketplace, seated alongside the new location for Austin’s Saxon Pub.

Global retail estate company Simon is looking to the Internet for its latest development. Simon is launching Simon SAID, a lifestyle-focused digital platform.

Simon SAID delivers editorial content on fashion, beauty, design, culture and food that links back to offerings available at Simon centers nationwide. The platform will utilize influencers, bloggers and retail partners to create original content featuring products sold at Simon retailers, from clothing and accessories to home decor and food.

Chicago -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team brokered the sale of Roosevelt Galleria in Chicago. Rye, New York-based Acadia Realty Trust purchased the urban retail property for $19.6 million.

Roosevelt Galleria is located in the Roosevelt Road retail corridor in the South Loop. The 40,306 sq. ft. center has a diverse mix of tenants, which include: Golfsmith, Petco, Sleepy’s, United Healthcare and The Vitamin Shoppe.

Marketing experts routinely advise retailers to send customers notifications, such as emails and texts, informing them of discounts or following up on purchases and site visits. But such notifications may be doing more harm than good.

Walmart has returned to its acquisitive ways in Silicon Valley with the purchase of PunchTab, a four-year old company with talent and technology to help the retailer’s Sam’s Club division better personalize offers.

Jeremy King, head of WalmartLabs, and Jamie Iannone, president and CEO of Samsclub.com announced the deal to acquire PunchTab in a joint statement on the @WalmartLabs site. The deal involves the purchase of PunchTab’s and six employees who will join WalmartLabs including founder Mehdi Ait Oufkir.

A planned secondary stock offering by Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings means the rapidly expanding outdoor retailer no longer meets the definition of a “controlled company” but the private equity firm that brought the company public last year will still own a huge stake.

Ross Dress for Less is opening new stores under both its namesake and dd’s Discounts banners. The specialty apparel retailer will open a 25,000-sq.-ft. Ross Dress for Less store in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Oct. 10.

This store is the 11th new Ross Dress for Less location in Idaho. The opening is part of the retailer’s 2015 expansion program, totaling approximately 70 new locations during the year.