eCommerce

The age old question of what to get the person who has everything has finally been answered, and a Walmart gift card appears to be the ultimate solution for the perplexed gift-giver. That’s according to the gift card exchange website www.giftcardrescue.com and survey involving 6,000 people who created gift card wish lists on its site since the beginning of the year.

As holiday promotions heated up in November and shoppers hit the Internet, there was a 44% surge in traffic to Walmart.com when compared with October, according to the online measurement firm comScore. The growth propelled Walmart to the 20th spot on comScore’ November ranking of the top 50 U.S. Web properties. The nearly 52 million unique visitors Walmart.com attracted in November 2010 was 5% more than in November 2009, according to comScore’s data.

An accurate view of whether Walmart is capturing a fair share of this holiday season’s anticipated sales growth is hard to come by given the lack of monthly results from the company, but a somewhat clearer picture emerges online based on traffic and sales estimates from third parties.

Niles, Ill. -- Tuesday Morning has signed a lease for 20,000 sq. ft. at Village Crossing in Niles, Ill., a North Shore suburb of Chicago.

According to Oakbrook Terrace-based Mid-America Asset Management, the exclusive leasing representative for the center, Tuesday Morning plans to open in January 2011 as a new anchor, joining Dick’s Sporting Goods, Jewel/Osco and Pier 1 Imports.

Hudson, Ohio -- Jo-Ann Stores said Thursday it has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners for $1.6 billion in cash.

Los Angeles-based Leonard Green’s acquisition of the U.S.’s largest fabric retailer follows its $3 billion purchase of J. Crew, announced in late November.

Going private will enable Jo-Ann Stores to renovate stores and accelerate the chain’s expansion. It currently operates 756 stores.

Union, N.J. -- Bed Bath & Beyond said Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended Nov. 27 rose 28% to $188.6 million, compared with $151.3 million in the year-ago period.

Results topped analyst expectations.

Revenue rose 11% to $2.2 billion, edging Wall Street expectations of $2.11 billion in revenue. Same-store sales increased 7%.

TORONTO - Sears Canada announced that it has appointed Sharon Driscoll as SVP and CFO. Driscoll has held her current position with the company as SVP finance, since November of 2008.

Prior to joining Sears in 2008, Driscoll was employed with Loblaw Companies Limited, holding the position of SVP corporate development, and before that SVP finance national merchandising and SVP finance retail Ontario region. 

Walmart, Target and Best Buy attracted record levels of customers to their websites during November, according to data released this week by the online measurement firm comScore. Retailers have come to expect a surge in traffic to their sites as the holiday approach and during November that proved to be the case and then some.

Atlanta -- Oxford Industries has acquired Sugartown Worldwide, the owner of the upscale women's lifestyle brand Lilly Pulitzer, which sells to better specialty and department stores as well as through its stores and other direct to consumer channels.

Maumelle, Ark. -- Dillard’s announced it will locate an Internet fulfillment center in Maumelle, Ark., to support the continuing growth of its online business. The company has signed an agreement to purchase the former Target distribution facility and will create over 300 new jobs in the Central Arkansas area.