eCommerce

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Co. announced Wednesday it will acquire specialty tea chain Teavana Holdings for $620 million in a move to gain traction in the $40 billion global tea industry.

According to Starbucks chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz, the coffee company plans to grow and expand Teavana’s 300 mall-based stores as well as add a neighborhood store concept to accelerate Teavana’s domestic and global footprint.

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the third quarter jumped 38% to $4.3 million, from $3.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue edged up 2% to $179.4 million from $175.8 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $182.9 million in revenue.

Same-store sales rose a slight 0.2%.

New York -- Tommy Bahama Group Inc. said Thursday its first Tommy Bahama global flagship store will open on Nov. 17 at 551 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Hoffman Estates,Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp.'s third-quarter loss widened amid declining sales and higher tax expenses.

For the quarter ended Oct. 27, Sears reported a loss of $498 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $421 million.

Revenue slipped 5.8%, to $8.86 billion, primarily due to the effect of having fewer Kmart and Sears stores in operation and lower domestic comparable store sales for the quarter.

Walmart had as much to say about an ongoing and expanding investigation into alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in its third quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission as it did about its actual financial results.

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the third quarter jumped 38% to $4.3 million, from $3.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue edged up 2% to $179.4 million from $175.8 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $182.9 million in revenue.

Same-store sales rose a slight 0.2%.

Chicago -- Retailers project a 3.1% increase in sales on Black Friday, according to a survey of top retail chief marketing officers by BDO USA, LLP. This optimism follows last year's modest projection of 1.6% growth, which preceded record sales over Thanksgiving weekend.

Indianapolis -- One-in-five consumers is now "showrooming," according to new research by Aprimo, a Teradata in collaboration with Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru. Of those consumers already showrooming, 33% say they ultimately used the information to buy elsewhere. The trend is only expected to continue growing, too, as 96% say they plan to use their smart phone to research prices the same way or more in the future.