eCommerce

Seattle - Blue Nile, Inc. has added Robert van Schoonenberg to its board of directors, effective Feb. 23. van Schoonenberg is chairman and CEO of BayPoint Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm, and a co-managing partner of AmeriCap Partners LLC, a growth capital investment firm.

Prior to sale of the company to a strategic investor in June 2010, he was an investor in and served as chairman of Premiere Entertainment LLC, a company in the business of digital broadcast production.

Old Navy navigated a big wave of sales during the holidays as Gap Inc. continued to try to revive its namesake Gap brand, with lackluster results.

The apparel retailing company reported that for the fourth quarter, same-store sales rose 11% and total sales rose 12% at Old Navy; company wide at Gap Inc, same store sales rose only 2%.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Thursday, fueled by surging sales at Old Navy and strong online results. But it offered a disappointing profit outlook for 2015 as it feels the impact of the stronger U.S. dollar and West Coast port delays.

New York -- These are tough times for discount grocery stores — unless the company happens to be the fast-growing Aldi. Pittsburgh-based supermarket operator Giant Eagle plans to close all eight of its Good Cents Grocery + More stores. The closures are set for March 26.

San Francisco  -- Gap Inc. is looking to add a little pink magic to its product design — and is bringing back a company veteran to do it. The retailer has named Wendi Goldman, creator of Victoria’s Secret “Pink” marketing/merchandising campaign, as executive VP of product design and development, effective March 16.

A new e-commerce startup is aiming to shift the paradigm in the world of online shopping with the release of a customizable deal dashboard.   Mytotefish.com offers a dashboard for users to organize their favorite stores (including coupons, sales and shipping deals) in one centralized location.   

GameStop is trying to boost the number of its stores by bidding on 163 leases from RadioShack Corp, according to Bloomberg.

The news service reports that Spring Communications, the wireless unit of GameStop, submitted and won a significant bid for the leases.

New York - For the upscale, 33-store Barneys New York, customer experience is everything. Affluent shoppers buying high-priced merchandise have certain expectations beyond the availability of quality items, regardless of channel they choose.

“We want every customer to have an online experience personalized to their taste profile, preference and geography, just as we would do in our flagship stores,” Matthew Woolsey, executive VP of Barneys digital, told Chain Store Age.