eCommerce

Chris Saridakis, president of eBay Enterprise, a division of eBay, has resigned for personal reasons, according to the company.

An external search will be conducted for a successor, the company said. Until the search is completed, Tobias Hartmann, VP, omnichannel operations and international, will serve as the company’s interim head.

Saridakis had served as president of eBay Enterprise since June 2011, following the company’s acquisition of GSI Commerce (renamed eBay Enterprise in 2013), where he was part of that company’s management team.

Seattle -- Nordstrom plans to open a full-line store in the heart of downtown Toronto, at Toronto Eaton Centre.

Construction of the approximately 213,000-sq.-ft., three-level store is set to begin in March 2014, with the store opening slated for fall 2016. Toronto Eaton Centre is owned and managed by The Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd.

Dallas -- J. C. Penney Company announced that as part of its turnaround efforts it will close 33 underperforming stores across the country. The shutterings, which will result in the elimination of about 2,000 positions, are expected to result in an annual cost savings of approximately $65 million, beginning in 2014.

ChannelAdvisor, a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions, has appointed Judith Barnett as VP of human resources. In this role, Barnett will oversee global human resources and will be charged with attracting, developing and retaining individuals for the company’s growing worldwide team.

King of Prussia, Pa. -- eBay Enterprise has launched a ship-from-store solution, which the company calls a game-changing initiative that retailers can deploy within 99 days to effectively leverage their physical store inventories while gaining advantages in margin and shipping cost.

New York -- Almost seven-in-10 consumers surveyed expect to make more money, save more money and afford things they need in 2014, according to RetailMeNot’s 2014 Shoppers Trend Forecast. 

Tucson, Ariz. — Big-box retail space in Tucson, Ariz., has been leasing up, with the highest demand focused in core regional mall hubs. Big-box spaces in peripheral areas of the city remain vacant.

In the Park Place Mall area, for instance, big box properties are nearly fully leased, with some saying the area is ripe for redevelopment to accommodate future demand.

Despite severe winter weather travails during the holiday shopping season, the National Retail Federation reported that December retail sales didn’t take the hit that many feared.

In fact, taking advantage of heavy promotions and last-minute deals, shoppers were able to move the December retail sales needle up 0.4% month-to-month, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, and up 4.6% year-over-year.