eCommerce

Shenzhen, China — Walmart will be looking to capitalize on compelling growth prospects in China under the leadership of new senior executives following the simultaneous departure of CFO Roland Lawrence and COO Rob Cissell.

Both men left the company to pursue other development opportunities, according to Walmart, leaving leadership of Chinese business in the hands of Walmart China president and CEO Ed Chan and Wal-Mart Stores Asia president and CEO Scott Price.

Pasadena, Calif. — Disney Store plans to open its interactive concept stores in more than 40 locations in 2011 the company announced today at the Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas.  The company said that by the end of 2011, it will have 60 new concept stores in 16 major markets in North America and eight countries.

Although Targets’ new e-commerce platform isn’t expected to relaunch for a few more months, it is worth acknowledging that the massive undertaking is on time and under budget. That isn’t the case a lot of times with big technology projects, and the complexity associated with Target’s e-commerce business coupled with the rapid pace of change in the mobile and social media world’s created the potential for costs and project timelines to get out of control.

Ann Arbor, Mich.  — Borders announced that it has expanded its partnership with Kobo, the maker of an e-reader that at $129.99 is about $10 to $20 less than the Kindle and Nook, respectively. The new partnership, according to Borders, with give customers access to new state-of-the-art free e-reading apps and e-reading technology; access to over 2.3 million books, newspapers and magazines; and a unique, industry-first social reading experience, positioning Borders as a strong competitor in the digital space.

With the dust settled from Target’s first-quarter earnings announcement last week, it has become quite apparent the company would not be faring well were it not for the beneficial effects of the PFresh remodeling program and last fall’s introduction of 5% REDcard Rewards.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s has announced plans to hire up to 300 information technology professionals, including 150 new positions. 

Lowe's reported that positions are now open across all IT professions, including business analysis, engineering, communications network, ecommerce, application development, program management and project management. The positiobns will be based at Lowe’s corporate headquarters in Mooresville, N.C.

NEW YORK  — Ann Inc., the parent company of Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft stores, reported that for the fiscal first quarter of 2011, earnings per diluted share were 51 cents, compared with earnings per diluted share of 38 cents in the first quarter of 2010.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. — Sears Holdings has named William Phelan as acting CFO, replacing Michael Collins, currently SVP and CFO, who resigned last week to pursue another opportunity, the company reported in an SEC filing.

Collins will remain with the company until June 10 in order to ensure a smooth transition, Sears noted in the filing.