eCommerce

For a company so often on the leading edge of offering its shopper affordable fashions in the apparel and home categories, there is one area where Target has been slow to keep pace with the prevailing trend.

London -- Online sales club Privalia Venta Directa, S.L. said Monday it will acquire Dress for Less, a German online fashion retailer, from Palamon Capital Partners, a pan-European private equity firm.
 
The acquisition will be funded through a combination of $123 million of new equity provided by equity firms General Atlantic, Highland Capital Partners, Index Ventures and Insight Venture Partners.
 
Dress for Less founders Mirco Schultis and Holger Hengstler will become significant shareholders in Privalia.

New York City -- Spain’s The Inditex Group of Spain will pay $400 million for a flagship Zara retail store at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, who cited people familiar with the matter, the transaction is one of the largest retail condominium deals ever. Zara bought out a 32,000-sq.-ft. lease from former occupant NBA store, which had less than three years remaining, according to the report.

Marina Del Ray, Calif. -- Cooking.com and recipe video website Good Bite announced that Cooking.com will be building and managing a new online kitchenware store for Good Bite.

WAYNE, N.J. – With reports of a possible IPO looming and strong quarterly results, Toys"R"Us is poised to dominate the toy sector, which has shown signs of a resurgence and renewed consumer interest, thanks to a number of innovations and must-have items as displayed during the 2011 Toy Fair. 

According to reports, the company is considering the idea of filing for an initial public offering this April, which is expected to raise about $800 million.