eCommerce

Framingham, Mass. - Staples Inc. has selected The NPD Group, Inc. as its data services provider for market sizing, share measurement, and vendor collaboration for the office supplies and technology industries. The service tracks sales through retail, e-commerce, and commercial channels.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has signed a 42,000-sq.-ft. lease to open a Neighborhood Market at Nor-Dan Shopping Center in Danville, Virginia. The store is planned to open in 2016 and will employ approximately 95 people.

Nor-Dan Shopping Center is a 161,428-sq.-ft. community center anchored by Big Lots and It's Fashion Metro, operated by Phillips Edison & Co.

Corte Madera, Calif. - RH (Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc.) is reportedly planning to open a more than 70,000-sq.-ft. RH Gallery format store at the Tivoli Village upscale shopping center in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the store would be the largest Restoration Hardware location in the U.S.

Mountain View, Calif. – Google Inc. is reportedly planning to start providing users with “Buy” buttons in their search results within the next few weeks. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google will initially offer the buttons on mobile search results.

Littleton, Mass. – Dover Saddlery Inc. experienced an increase in net loss during the first quarter of fiscal 2015, seeing it jump to $776,000 from $543,000 the same quarter a year earlier. Total revenues rose 16% to $22.8 million from $19.7 million, and same-store sales rose 3%.

New York -- Surging rents in Manhattan have claimed another victim, and this time it's one of the city's most iconic retail establishments. F.A.O. Schwarz will close its legendary toy store on Fifth Avenue this summer, citing the high and rising costs of operating a store on one of the city's most pricey blocks of real estate. Toys "R" Us, which acquired F.A.O. Schwarz in 2009, said it will close the 45,000-sq.-ft.

Surging rents in Manhattan have claimed another victim, and this time it's one of the city's most iconic retail establishments.

Ascena Retail Group may be looking to attract younger, more career-oriented shoppers with its $2.15 buyout of rival Ann Inc.

The retailer formerly known as Restoration Hardware has hired a chief real estate officer to lead the latest installment of its evolution into a "design gallery": a 70,000-square-foot store in Las Vegas.

H&M aims to bring the haute couture of French design house Balmain to the masses with a new collection this fall.

Olivier Rousteing, head designer at Balmain, announced the partnership last night on Twitter, which H&M confirmed.