eCommerce

Consumers know the perfect gift when they find it, and 1-800-Flowers.com is trying to make the search a little easier.

The specialty gift retailer is offering a beta of “GWYN” (Gifts When You Need), an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered intuitive shopping experience across its brands. GWYN is based on the Fluid Expert Personal Shopper (XPS) software platform, which in turn is supported by IBM Watson.

While teen apparel retailers are feeling the heat from online and fast-fashion competitors, Five Below continues to move across the country.

The extreme-value brand for and pre-teens and teens will open its first store in Wisconsin, in Racine, on May 6, 2016.The Racine store is one of approximately 85 new Five Below locations opening in 2016, on top of 71 new stores that opened in 2015.

South Dakota has filed a lawsuit against four online retailers, joining a growing number of other states in a battle that could well end up in the Supeme Court, according to a report by corporatecounsel.com

The opening of the newest Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th location near downtown Chicago is a big deal literally and figuratively.

The newest Off 5th is located in the NEWCITY development at Lincoln Park on the northern fringe of downtown Chicago at 1457 Halsted Street at the intersection of North Clybourn Avenue. The store is the company’s 100th Off 5th location in North American, its seventh in Illinois and the second in downtown Chicago following the April 14 opening of the first location as 6 S. State Street.

Kit and Ace announced that Wendy Bennison has been named president. Interim CEO Paul Wilson will resume his role as CEO of Hold It All Inc.

“We feel very fortunate to have Wendy on board,” said Wilson. “She is a proven leader with an incredible depth of knowledge in the retail marketplace – both here in Canada and internationally. We’re confident that there is no better person to helm the next phase of our growth.”

Wine aficionados have a new, expanded digital resource to shop for their favorite vintage.

eBay has introduced eBay Wine, a new section of its e-commerce site that features the ability to browse collectible, rare and everyday wines.

Consumers can search eBay’s assortment of more than 10,000 wines using attributes including varietal, region, price point, and price format (“buy it now” or auctions for rare bottles). Shoppers will be able to purchase wine and ship to almost anywhere in the U.S.

Photo: Erik Westedt, left, and Scott Kaplan have joined JLL’s growing Southern California team.

Prime retail real estate in Southern California and nearby states is now available after bankrupt Sport Chalet retained A&G Realty Partners to sell its assets.