eCommerce

Talk about favorable media coverage. CNBC aired a one-hour special last week called “Target: Inside the Bullseye,” that served as more of a glowing endorsement of the company than the probing documentary implied by the title.

An announcement last week that Target plans to open 21 stores in the coming fiscal year was interesting on a number of levels.

For starters, the disclosure was rather uncharacteristic for a company that in years past would publicly release its stores openings a week or two in advance of the actual openings. In this case, the company shared its full list of openings for the entire year two weeks before its new fiscal year even begins.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Target announced that Tony Fisher has been named president of Target Canada.  In this position, Fisher will be responsible for building the team, establishing the headquarters and leading the day-to-day operations of the corporation's recently announced expansion into Canada, the company reported.

Sarasota, Fla. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association said Tuesday that Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart Stores, along with Steven Preston, president and CEO of OakLeaf Waste management, have joined the RILA board of directors.

Simon replaces Walmart vice chairman and president and CEO of global e-commerce and global sourcing Eduardo Castro-Wright on the board.

The RILA board meets twice a year to discuss the issues facing retailers and to offer insight into the opportunities and challenges confronting the industry.

Chicago -- Urban Retail Properties LLC said Tuesday it has appointed Samuel J. Greenblatt as principal, finance/capital markets. Greenblatt’s primary role will be to raise capital and foster financial relationship opportunities for the company.

Prior to his role with Urban, Greenblatt was executive VP and director of originations of RAIT Financial Trust, a NYSE traded mortgage real estate investment trust.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Survey results released Tuesday by CyberSource, a Visa Co., showed that the online fraud rate has remained flat in the United States and Canada; however, U.K. merchants are seeing a rise in e-commerce fraud.

According to the annual surveys of e-commerce fraud in North America and the United Kingdom, the 2010 fraud rate (the percent of accepted orders which later turn out to be fraudulent) remained at 0.9% for the second straight year.

Tampa, Fla. -- RMC Property Group said that Dollar Tree has signed a lease to expand and relocate its store within the Temple Terrace Shopping Center, located in Tampa, Fla.

Dollar Tree will relocate to the vacant former Save-A-Lot unit, increasing the size of its store from 7,992 sq. ft. to 14,425 sq. ft.

The new store will open under the chain’s Deal$ concept, which sells some items for more than $1, offering merchandise that Dollar Tree does not sell under the $1 restricted price of its primary stores.

Dallas -- Blockbuster has received an extension to Feb. 4 to file its restructuring plan in order to emerge from bankruptcy protection, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The retailer filed for Chapter 11 protection in September.

Chicago -- A survey released Tuesday by the e-tailing group said that nine merchants out of the 100 benchmarked excelled at online customer service.

According to the group’s 13th Annual Mystery Shopping Study, conducted during fourth quarter 2010, Lands’ End made the list for a third consecutive year. Coach and Saks Fifth Avenue are two-year repeat achievers.

New York City -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that J. Crew Group is close to settling a shareholder lawsuit over its proposed $3 billion takeover by private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP.

Citing two unnamed sources, the report said that as part of the settlement, J. Crew would extend the period to solicit competing offers until Feb. 15 and add provisions that make it easier to accept a rival bid.