eCommerce

New York City -- The Walt Disney Co. will open its first-ever Disney Baby store next year at the Americana in Glendale, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported.

The company plans to open Disney Baby locations -- one on each coast -- to display the best of its new infant line, according to the report.

The stores will give Disney executives the opportunity to interact with the parents of newborns and refine product offerings that span infant apparel, nursery items and bath products.
 

Seattle -- Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) on Friday announced plans to open a new store in Indianapolis at the Plaza at Castleton next spring. The new store will be the outdoor retailer’s first in the state.

The one-story, approximately 23,800-sq.-ft. store is one of 117 stores in 28 states and two online stores -- rei.com and rei-outlet.com.
 

Indianapolis -- Lids Sports Group announced the acquisition of Buckeye Corner stores, which operates four stores in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The acquisition also includes Buckeye’s e-commerce website and a catalog business.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

New York City -- With global e-commerce estimated to reach nearly $1.4 trillion in 2015, more and more retailers are looking to gear up or expand their online operations. A new report by Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) sizes up the challenges and opportunities -- and outlines best practices -- for retailers who want to take advantage of e-commerce growth by going global.

WASHINGTON — The retail industry won a big victory in Washington, D.C., as the Senate defeated an amendment that proposed to delay swipe-fee reform for another 12 months.

HINGHAM, Mass. — Talbots announced that it has named Lesli Gilbert SVP stores, effective June 27. In this role, Gilbert will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Talbots core retail operations in the United States and Canada, as well as supporting the implementation of the company’s store reimage and rationalization programs. She will report directly to Trudy Sullivan, president and CEO of the Talbots.

The enormity of the Chinese e-commerce opportunity was mentioned last week by Wan Ling Martello at Walmart’s shareholders meeting, when the COO of global e-commerce described how China’s online market is projected to quadruple to $300 billion in five years. Walmart obviously wants to be part of that growth and looked to shorten its learning curve earlier this year by acquiring a minority stake in fast growing online grocer Yihaodian.

A Wild West atmosphere remains evident in the world of e-commerce as brands, once reluctant to sell directly to customers online for fear of alienating retailers, are now experimenting with novel ideas that just a few years ago would have been unthinkable.

For example, Ad Age this week chronicles an example involving Procter & Gamble selling products direct to consumers on its Facebook fan pages for several leading brands such as Tide, Gillette, Olay, Gain, CoverGirl, Luvs and Febreze.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Borders Group said Thursday that it is faced with closing dozens of its best-performing stores due to a requirement of its bankruptcy financing if their landlords don't agree to extend a lease-negotiation period.

Borders, which filed for bankruptcy protection in February, has extension agreements for 365 stores. But the book seller said in a court filing Thursday that it is still negotiating extensions for 51 stores, many of which are among its top-selling stores, including one near Penn Station in New York.

Matthews, N.C. -- Activist investor William Ackman on Thursday disclosed ownership of an 8.9% stake in Family Dollar, according to a regulatory filing.

The investment makes Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management investment fund the largest owner of Family Dollar stock, increasing his holdings from 4.7% to the nearly 9%.