eCommerce

La-Z-Boy has appointed Aaron Thomas Brown as VP, strategy and analytics, a newly created position. Brown will report to Kurt Darrow, La-Z-Boy's chairman, president and CEO, and will spearhead strategic planning across the enterprise.

Dallas -- Neiman Marcus Group has signed an agreement to acquire the German luxury fashion e-commerce site  Mytheresa.com and Theresa, its flagship Munich store from Christoph and Susanne Botschen and Acton Capital Partners. The transaction is expected to close later this year.

E-commerce as a segment of the total retail market is growing at 30% per year and will reach $2 trillion in sales in 2015, according to e-commerce platform Bigcommerce.

Based on research conducted across its more than 55,000 clients, and combined with third-party research from Sagence, Bigcommerce’s Democratization of E-commerce Report also predicts that the U.S. small and medium business ecommerce market will exceed $100 billion in total sales in 2015.

New York - While the majority of consumers prefer to both shop and spend their money in brick-and-mortar retail stores, more than 60% are increasing their online shopping activities, according to a survey of 1,515 consumers by digital marketing firm SmartFocus. This trend is most prevalent among women (71%) and Millennials.

Houston – The Mansour Group has arranged the sale of the 99% leased, 223,223-sq.-ft. Almeda Crossing Power Center located in Houston, for more than $30 million. The seller was a Texas-based developer and The Mansour Group was able to deliver the property to a national REIT.

The center is leased to an array of national tenants including Ross, Marshall’s, Staples, PetSmart, Conn’s, Party City, Show Carnival, Dollar Tree, Anna’s Linens, Aaron’s and many others and is shadow anchored by a Walmart supercenter.

Hudson's Bay Company is reaping the rewards of its acquisition last year of Saks. The company’s retail sales soared 86.6% to $1.8 billion, from $948 million in the prior year.

Consolidated same-store sales increased by 1.9% on a local currency basis, with increases of 1.1% at HBC’s department store group (DSG), 2.2% at Saks Fifth Avenue and 14.9% at Off 5th. Digital commerce sales totaled $162 million, including $116 million from Saks and growth of 82.2% at DSG.

San Francisco – EBay Inc. reportedly plans to begin running advertisements within its mobile app during fourth quarter 2014. According to Reuters, the Geico insurance company will be one of the first advertisers.

Washington, D.C. --  August retail sales – excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants – increased 0.5% seasonally adjusted month-to-month and 2.7% unadjusted year-over-year, according to the National Retail Federation. When combined with revisions to July, August sales indicate a consistent improvement in consumer confidence and spending.