eCommerce

When Renaissance at Colony Park opened in Ridgeland, Miss., in 2008, it created a stir not only among the local residents of Ridgeland, Miss., but also within the retailer and shopping center communities as a whole.

The project, developed by Mattiace Properties and H.C. Bailey Cos., pulled together the aesthetic elements of a Main Street and town center format with strategic, traffic-driving retail, entertainment and dining offerings.

SEATTLE — Blue Nile, an online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, has appointed former Aeropostale co-CEO Mindy Meads to its board of directors. 

Meads has 35 years of experience in the global apparel industry. She currently serves on two public boards — Wet Seal, a specialty teen brand, and Mela Sciences, a bio tech company. In these roles, she provides strategic counsel focused on growth and the use of multichannel business strategies.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Interactive multichannel retailer HSNi has promoted Judy Schmeling to COO and CFO. Schmeling has served as HSNi's EVP and CFO since 2001. In her new role, she will be responsible for supply chain operations and customer care functions in addition to providing ongoing leadership for finance and information technology. 

RadioShack is courting the college market and has entered into a five-year agreement with NACSCORP, a subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores.

Under the agreement, the retailer will offer an assortment of consumer electronics and accessories to the nearly 4,000 college store customers NACSCORP currently serves.

CINCINNATI — Macy’s reported increases in sales and income for the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period a year earlier, despite cool weather that delayed spring shopping in key markets. Net income was $217 million, a 20% hike from $181 million in the year-ago period.  

While net income slightly beat analyst predictions, same-store sales rose 3.8%, short of the 4.3% expected by analysts. Net sales totaled $6.39 billion, up 4% from $6.14 billion in the year-ago period.

ST. LOUIS — SpongeBob and Patrick are heading to Build-A-Bear Workshop thanks to an agreement between the retailer and Nickelodeon. Beginning Friday, May 17, customers will be able to make their own SpongeBob and Patrick dolls at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores throughout North America and on the retailer’s e-commerce site for $23 apiece.  

SpongeBob’s Bikini Bottom friends Sandy Cheeks and Gary the Snail will also be available as pre-stuffed minis for $10 each.

NEW YORK — International lifestyle brand Club Monaco is leveraging the power of social media to promote its fashion apparel and accessories. It has launched an interactive fashion lookbook on Tumblr. 

Club Monaco hopes to use the visually driven platform to expand its reach and entice consumers to see and share fashion looks months before they hit the stores. 

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.3% in May over the same month last year, but growth could trickle to a standstill by the end of the summer, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

New York -- Cache reported Tuesday a loss of $18.5 million for the first quarter, widened from a loss of $1.2 million in the same quarter last year. An income tax provision of $10.2 million and employee separation costs were cited as reasons for the worsened performance.

Revenue declined 5% percent to $53.5 million from $56 million, and same-store sales dipped 1.5%.

Omaha, Neb. -- Apparel and home-décor retailer Gordmans said Tuesday it has appointed Geoffrey Ayoub as senior VP planning, allocation and analysis.

Ayoub joins Gordmans from EDCON, a South African-based retailer operating over 1,000 stores in multiple retail formats throughout five countries. At EDCON, he served as chief planning officer responsible for all aspects of merchandise planning, allocation, replenishment and merchandise analysis.