eCommerce

New York City -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, the U.S. division of Tesco, has opened its first Fresh & Easy Express store, at La Cienega Boulevard and 18th Street in Los Angeles.

The new format is approximately 3,000 sq. ft. versus the 10,000-sq.-ft. footprint of a standard Fresh & Easy. It features an edited selection of some 2,700 SKUs, including fresh foods, baked items, groceries, and health and beauty items.
 

Houston -- Cardtronics announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cardtronics Canada acquired Mr. Cash ATM Network, Lethbridge, Alberta.

The acquisition expands Cardtronics’ international presence into Canada. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Armonk, N.Y. -- Online holiday shopping in November is expected to grow 12% to 15% versus the year-ago period, with mobile devices such as iPads and Android phones helping to drive spending, according to the IBM Coremetrics Benchmark analysis which gathers data directly from the websites of more than 500 leading U.S. retailers. The analysis also predicts that 15% of people in the United States who log onto a retailer’s website during November will do so through a mobile device.

San Francisco -- Willams-Sonoma’s PBteen brand will open its first-ever pop-up store in Natick Mall, Natick, Mass., Nov. 4.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax announced that it has appointed Jim Barr as EVP and chief digital officer, effective Nov. 14. Barr will report to Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax, and will be responsible for all aspects of the company's e-commerce business and for driving its multi-channel digital strategy.  

Barr has been working with the OfficeMax e-commerce business in an advisory capacity since July 2011 to assess the opportunities for the business and develop a strategy to maximize its potential.  

MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported October sales growth that fell short of analysts expectations, while uncertainty remains following the recent departure of the company's CFO.

Target reported that its net retail sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 29 were $4.8 billion, an increase of 4.3% from $4.6 billion for the four weeks ended Oct. 30, 2010. On this same basis, comparable-store sales increased 3.3% in October and 4.3% in the third quarter.

NEW YORK — Consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters. However, while the October results were not as promising as some retailers had hoped, sales for the most part rose and most chains reported results that were only slightly off from analysts’ estimates. Some analysts blamed Wall Street for underestimating how much caution is still out there.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — With BJ's no longer reporting monthly sales, Costco is the only warehouse-club retailer left to give some insight regarding how Sam's Club performs on monthly basis. With Costco delivering positive comps for the month, it is safe to assume that Sam's and BJ's have garnered their fair share of the market.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.  — Sears Holdings has entered the future of staying connected to consumers introducing mobile shopping walls in high-traffic areas.

Wayne, N.J. — Toys"R"Us has named the leadership team for its retail business operations in Southeast Asia and Greater China, following the recent announcement of its new joint venture agreement with Li & Fung Retailing. With this agreement, the existing Toys “R” Us business operations in the region, which had previously been licensed, are now majority owned and controlled by Toys “R” Us.