eCommerce

Vernon Hills, Ill. -- Beachwood, Ohio-based Chase Properties announced that Hawthorn Hills Square in Vernon Hills, Ill., is being redeveloped to coincide with the opening of Dick's Sporting Goods (December 2010) and PetSmart and Five Below that are expected to open in the spring. Additionally, Noodles will be opening a new freestanding restaurant at the center in the fall.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co.’s December same-store sales fell 4% as softness continued in its sales of televisions and entertainment software.

The retailer, which also reaffirmed its 2011 profit outlook, said on Friday that same-store sales in its domestic segment fell 5% and 0.1% internationally.

Overall sales in the month slipped 1.6% to $8.4 billion.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Ebay has announced that it will engage fashion publishing innovator and style luminary Andrea Linett as creative director for Ebay fashion. Working with Ebay’s fashion business, marketing and communications units for North America, and the company’s technology team, Linett will drive the creative vision for the company’s multibillion-dollar fashion business and will be responsible for advancing the image, voice and editorial style for the marketplace’s clothing, shoes and accessories category, the company reported.

New York City -- On the heels of a strong November, some department store retailers reported surprisingly weak December revenue. Results were impacted by a blizzard in the Northeast, which took a bite out of sales after Christmas.

The results raised some worries that the holiday season might be less stellar than some had hoped. Still, much of Wall Street still predicts that November and December spending will show the largest annual increase since 2006.

Costco said its worldwide sales increased 11% to $9.19 billion for the five-week period ended Jan. 2 and total company same-store sales increased 6%. Same-store sales at Costco’s U.S. clubs increased 4%, or 3% if the effect of higher year-over-year fuel prices is excluded. Internationally, same-store sales increased 12%, but that figure was aided by currency exchange rates. Excluding the impact of exchange rates, international same-store sales increased 8%.

New York City -- Teen specialty retailer Anchor Blue has closed its headquarters and is in the process of winding down operations at its 120 stores, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

Based in Corona, Calif., Anchor Blue is owned by private equity firm Sun Capital partners.

The final holiday numbers are in from online measurement firm comScore and it was a record year. November and December online sales increased 12% to $32.6 billion and, considering the surge in traffic that takes place at Walmart.com during those months and the increasing level of cross-channel integration, the retailer likely captured at least a fair share of the growth.

New York City -- After coming off a strong November, retailers found their momentum waned in December, with many turning in mixed sales for the month. Industry experts said sales were impacted by a still-cautious consumer and the blizzard the crippled the Northeast in the days immediately following Christmas.

Thomson Reuters, which tracks same-store sales for a group of 28 national chains, said total sales for the group were expected to post a 3.4% increase in same-store sales for December, following a 5.6% bump in November.