eCommerce

New York City -- A late Thursday report by Bloomberg revealed that Border Group’s planned sale of its intellectual property to Barnes & Noble was delayed due to questions regarding customer privacy.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, Manhattan, asked that privacy rights for 48 million customers be clarified. He adjourned the Thursday sale-approval hearing in order to explore a privacy expert’s claims that how Barnes & Noble used the acquired rights could violate customer privacy.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Aug. 27 rose 24% to $20.9 million, compared with $16.8 million in the year-ago period.

Sales rose 10% to $331.5 million, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $321.9 million, and same-store sales surged 11%.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A Friday report by Wall Street Journal said that Sears Holdings Corp. is in an active push to lease surplus space to other retailers. Its real estate division has listed on its website some 4,000 of its namesake and Kmart stores that have space for other merchants or retail operations to lease.

New York City -- Apparel designer Yigal Azrouel will open its first freestanding store, for its Cut25 lower-priced, younger collection, in the Soho South area of Manhattan.

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group arranged a lease at 129 Grand Street, between Broadway and Crosby Street, for the new store. The opening date hasn’t yet been announced.

 

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said Friday that it has finalized its real estate transaction with Canadian retailer Zellers with the selection of 84 additional Zellers leases. Target Canada will open between 125 and 135 stores, most by 2013. The discounter also entered into a deal with Sobey’s, Canada’s second largest supermarket chain, to supply its stores with food.

In the December 2007 issue of Chain Store Age, I wrote about an historic structure on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, long-occupied by House of Bultman Funeral Home that was undergoing an extensive redevelopment to accommodate the first Borders bookstore in Orleans Parish.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us announced that it plans to hire more than 40,000 employees to staff its U.S. stores and distribution centers this holiday season, as the company anticipates another busy Christmas across all of its shopping channels. This number is in line with previous years, when the company hired between 35,000 and 45,000 seasonal workers. Throughout the coming months, the company said it will continue to assess its staffing needs and add more employees, as necessary.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot has launched a new line of exclusive office chairs from the Style@Work by Thomasville collection. According to the company, the Style@Work by Thomasville collection provides customers with luxury home office chairs at an affordable price, and are currently available at nationwide Office Depot retail store locations and online at www.officedepot.com.

NEW YORK — Express is taking its brand of specialty retail apparel north of the border this September with the opening of its first location in Canada at Fairview Mall in Toronto.  

By Josh Green, CEO, Panjiva