eCommerce

New York — With just 85 stores, Rochester, New York-based Wegmans Food Market edged past online giant Amazon to take the top spot for corporate reputation among the 100 most visible companies, according to the 16th annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study.

Harris Poll expanded the list to 100 companies this year, up from 60, to offer deeper insight by industry. As a result, three of this year’s top 10 companies are debuting on the list, including No. 1 Wegmans, No. 7 L.L. Bean and No. 8 Publix Supermarkets.

Kohl’s Corp. has increased its outlook for the recently completed business year, citing strong sales growth during the holiday season.

The company reported fourth-quarter same store sales growth of 3.7%. The company also updated its fiscal 2014 earnings per share guidance to a range of $4.20 to $4.22 per share. On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $4.06 per share for fiscal 2014.

New York -- Staples has entered an agreement to acquire Office Depot in a cash and stock deal valued at $6.3 billon that is sure to face a high degree of regulatory scrutiny.

Seattle -- Amazon confirmed reports that it is piloting co-branded pickup sites with universities with the announcement that it has opened its first-ever staffed pickup and drop-off on-campus location, at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and plans to open similar sites at the University of California, Davis and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

New York -- Academy Sports + Outdoors will celebrate the simultaneous opening of four stores in the Orlando, Florida, area in March.

The new stores will be located in Kissimmee, Waterford, Lake Mary and Melbourne and will open simultaneously at 8:30 a.m. on March 6. The openings mark the Katy, Texas-based company’s furthest expansion eastward to date.

The $4 billion sporting goods retailer has entered into a multi-year partnership with the Orlando City Soccer Club beginning with the team's inaugural 2015 season.  

Academy Sports + Outdoors plans to make a splash in Orlando this spring with the simultaneous opening of four stores.

The $4 billion sporting goods retailer has entered into a multi-year partnership with the Orlando City Soccer Club beginning with the team's inaugural 2015 season. Academy Sports + Outdoors will be the official sporting goods retailer of the Orlando City Soccer Club. 

Costco’s same store sales flat-lined in January, disappointing many analysts who had expected a 1.2% increase.  

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Company announced that Kenneth Hannah has been named senior VP and CFO of the company, replacing Russ Hammer as of Feb. 16.

Hannah most recently served as executive VP and CFO of J.C. Penney Co. Prior to that time, he served in multiple executive roles at SunEdison (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials), including president of Solar Energy and of Solar Materials and as VP and CFO.