eCommerce

New York City -- SuperValu plans to increase the footprint of its value division Save-A-Lot by 160 new stores this year, GlobeSt.com reported.

“This past year we added 92 net Save-A-Lot stores, and this fiscal year we’re looking to add another 160 net stores,” a spokesman said, according to the report.

Stratham, N.H. -- The Timberland Co. on Friday will open a new store in San Francisco, in San Francisco Centre. Designed to reflect the company's long-standing commitment to sustainability, the 2,300 sq. ft. space is one of the brand's most eco-conscious stores to-date. In a first for Timberland, the sales floor is lit entirely with reduced-wattage LED lighting.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings on Tuesday announced that its same-store sales for the first quarter fell 3.6%. The retailer forecast a loss for the quarter ended April 30 of $145 million.

Same-store sales decreased 1.6% at Kmart, and 5.2% at Sears in the quarter. Sears Canada projects same-store sales will be down 9.2%.

PLANO, Texas -- JCPenney has completed a new five-year $1.25 billion bank credit facility.

The new facility replaces a $750 million credit facility that was scheduled to mature in April 2012 and provides further strength to the company's liquidity position. The facility may be used for general corporate purposes and will mature in April 2016.

The 5% REDcard Rewards program Target launched last fall has contributed to sales results and served as a game changer on the pricing front with Walmart. Savvy shoppers are increasingly realizing the additional 5% savings they receive by using their REDcard can result in the price of a basket of food and consumables at Target slipping below the price of a comparable basket at Walmart.

The most recent pricing survey from the equity research team at Credit Suisse shows that Target is either 3.1% more expensive or 1.9% less expensive than Walmart. The firm compared prices at stores in the Dallas and Chicago markets, as it does every month, and during March discovered the gap between the two competitors narrowed considerably.

“Target’s price gap with Walmart tightened from 4.2% in February to 3.1%,” according to the firm. “Target’s basket price decreased sequentially by 0.8% compared with Walmart’s 0.3% increase.”

This Mother’s Day is shaping up to be a battle between Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, with the popular e-readers featured on the cover of circulars from Target and Walmart that dropped this past weekend.

Customers paying with their Lowe’s Consumer Credit Card receive an immediate discount of 5% on in-stock and special order purchases bought in stores or online at lowes.com, Lowe's said.

Customers with single-receipt purchases of $299 or more can choose between the 5% discount or special financing currently advertised.

New York City -- Target has joined with American Express to offer a co-branded prepaid card that customers can reload and use at any store that accepts Amex cards, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

Target said in an e-mailed statement that it is selling the cards in a test at 100 stores in four cities: Chicago, Denver, Miami and Washington, D.C., the report said. The company said there is no projected end date.

New York City -- Hudson’s Bay Co. will test its HBC’s Home Outfitters concept in the United States, opening two stores in New Jersey in late summer, The Globe and Mail reported.

If successful, the company will further expand the home-goods concept, which will be called Lord & Taylor Home in the United States. (Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor are owned by Purchase, N.Y.-based NRDC Equity Partners.)