eCommerce

SAN JOSE, Calif. — eBay announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Magento Inc., the creators of Magento, a leading open source e-commerce platform. The deal follows eBay’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company in 2010. eBay now owns 100% of the outstanding shares of Magento. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — It has been a rough couple years for retailers, and no segment has been hit harder than office products, which has suffered a double whammy from the downturn in consumer and business spending. Staples, long the leader in the office products industry, has fared better than rivals Office Depot and OfficeMax, and its dominance was evident again on Wednesday, even if the second quarter results the company reported were uninspiring.

South Denver’s Park Meadows regional mall is officially 15 years old -- and it is celebrating throughout the month of August with free community entertainment and activities, culminating in a free community pancake breakfast August 30, 2011.

Jackson, Miss. -- Altar’d State, retailer of apparel and accessories, as well as home goods, personal care products, and books and music, opened a new store at the Renaissance at Colony Park, in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 13.

Located across from P.F. Chang’s, between Talbots and Cellular South, Altar’d State makes it a practice to support charitable causes in each community it locates in. 

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services said it has promoted Tammy A. Saia to VP investments.

Saia began her career with Marcus & Millichap in September 2003, specializing in the sale of retail properties. Most recently, she held the position of associate VP investments.

 

Fort Myers, Fla. -- Chico’s FAS reported Wednesday that its profit for the second quarter surged 42% to $43.4 million, up from $30.5 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 18% to $551.4 million, topping Wall Street’s expected $536.3 million, and same-store sales increased 12.8%. By brand, same-store sales were up 11.9% at Chico and Sonoma Intimates, and comps were up 14.9% at White House | Black Market.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reported Wednesday that profit for the second-quarter rose 64% to $32 million, up from $19.5 million, on increased demand in the United States and Europe.

Revenue rose 23% to $916.8 million, as previously reported, and same-store sales increased 9%.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Wednesday that earnings for the second quarter rose 3.7%, boosted by same-store sales growth and beating Wall Street expectations.

The retailer posted a profit of $704 million for the quarter ended July 30, compared with $679 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 4.6% to $16.24 billion, besting analysts’ expected $16.17 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.9%.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Despite the absence of top line growth at Walmart’s U.S. stores division, second quarter earnings grew 12.4% to $1.09 and came in a penny ahead of analysts’ estimates, which was enough for the company to narrow and increase the range of its full year profit forecast.

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than one-quarter of U.S. retailers lack a mobile presence, according to new research conducted by 2ergo.

Based on data collected from 161 retailers across six categories, 2ergo found that only 58% of retailers have not optimized a mobile website and just half of them are offering consumers one smartphone application for either Android, Blackberry or iPhone devices. Among them, 7% of these top retailers have launched applications for all three platforms, 2ergo noted.