eCommerce

Fredericksburg, Va. -- Youngstown, Ohio-based Cafaro Co. announced that Parmida Home will open a new store at The Village at Towne Centre, near Fredericksburg, Va.

The 6,900-sq.-ft. store is slated to open in early November across from Sephora.

The Village at Towne Centre is the outdoor shopping district of Spotsylvania Towne Centre, a 1.7 million-sq.-ft. complex offering more than 120 department stores, specialty shops, restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues.
 

Malibu, Calif. -- Southern California lifestyle center Malibu Country Mart welcomed Kolletti Bambini, a boutique specializing in designer clothing and accessories for children and infants.

The 630-sq.-ft. boutique opened on April 20.
 
Malibu County Mart features 90,000 sq. ft. of high-end retail, dining and services housed in an eclectic mix of architectural styles including Mediterranean, modern and rustic influences. 
 

Sunrise, Fla. -- Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group announced that Sawgrass Mills, the largest outlet, value retail and entertainment destination in the United States with more than 350 stores, will soon break ground on its newest phase of development to increase the footprint of The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills. 

This milestone also represents the soon-to-be-completed 140,000-sq.-ft. retail expansion of the south side of the property.

Southbury, Conn. -- Real estate firm RHYS Commercial announced that T.J. Maxx has signed a long-term lease to open a 22,000-sq.-ft. store at Southbury Plaza, located in Southbury, Conn.

Southbury Plaza, owned by Gatto Development Corp., is a 300,000-sq.-ft. shopping center anchored by Stop & Shop Supermarket, Kmart and Panera Bread.
 

Loveland, Colo. -- The Promenade Shops at Centerra, located in Loveland, Colo., announced that Medicine Bow Furnishings has opened a new store at the south end of the center, across from Barnes & Noble.

The Promenade Shops at Centerra features over 72 shopping, dining and entertainment destinations.
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart said Thursday it has launched a “Pay with Cash” service that offers cash payment options for online orders at Walmart.com in the United States.

Walmart is the first major retailer to offer online purchases without the need for banking services or a credit, debit or prepaid card.

HOUSTON — Mid-price apparel retailer Stage Stores has named Steven Lawrence as chief merchandising officer, effective April 30. Lawrence will be responsible for all of the merchandising, planning and allocation functions of the company.

Prior to joining Stage Stores, Lawrence spent 11 years with JCPenney, where he was most recently co-chief merchant EVP GMM men’s, kids and home.

Following up on last week’s commentary (A dot com disconnect and Canadian e-commerce opportunity revealed), the legislative loophole that has U.S. retailers at a disadvantage to their Canadian counterparts was on display again this week during congressional testimony in Washington, D.C.

With 24 million unique visitors during March, Target.com was ranked 47th on the comScore Media Metrix listing of the top 50 U.S. Web properties for March. That’s an improvement from March 2011 when Target didn’t crack the top 50. The only other conventional retailer in the top 50 was 25th ranked Walmart.com with 39 million unique visitors. It was ranked 33rd last year with 31.7 million unique visitors in March.
 

San Francisco -- The Gymboree Corp. reported Wednesday that it narrowed its loss in the quarter ended Jan. 28 to $24.9 million, compared with a loss of $47.3 million a year earlier.

Sales for the quarter increased 11.9% to $355.8 million, from $318.0 million last year. Same-store sales rose 6%.

The company announced that it plans to open 105 new stores in fiscal 2012, including 80 Crazy 8 stores.