eCommerce

By Mark Ledbetter, [email protected]

There's a season for everything, and that's no less true for retailers. Merchants have historically enjoyed a central position in the retail universe, driving everything from pricing to availability. How quickly things have changed. Today, try telling a 19-year-old that she can't get a discount on the slightly frayed jeans she found on the discount rack. She'll buy a similar pair online and Tweet about it so fast, it will make your head spin!

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp. announced its retail services business has signed a long-term agreement to provide private label credit card services for Barneys New York.

Seattle -- Nordstrom said Monday it will open a new namesake department store in Toronto in fall 2016, making its foray into the country a two-store debut.

The three-story, 188,000-sq.-ft. store planned for Toronto's Yorkdale Shopping Centre will join a previously announced, smaller store in the city's Sherway Gardens mall.

New York -- Digital sizing station company Me-Ality said Monday that Bloomingdale’s has partnered with Me-Ality to provide enhanced denim services by installing digital sizing stations in five Bloomingdale’s stores.

New York -- The fight over Martha Stewart resumed with both Macy's and J.C. Penney Co. back in a New York court on Monday. The trial, over whether Macy's has an exclusive right to sell select Martha Stewart home goods items, resumed after a month-long mediation effort failed to yield a settlement.

On Monday, Macy’s alleged Penney has begun selling some items on its website that infringe on Macy’s exclusive deal with Martha Stewart.

By Brad LaRock, [email protected]

If the 2012 holiday retail season proved anything, it’s this: the smart merchant gets the sale. Retailers have to plan strategically, segment their customer base, and think like today’s super connected shopper.

New York -- Costco Wholesale appears to be eyeing China's online commerce market, according to published reports.

The Southern Metropolis Daily, a newspaper based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, reported Thursday that the Issaquah, Wash.-based club retailer was interested in entering the country's e-commerce market and was in the process of looking for local partners.

New York -- Ron Johnson is out as CEO of J.C. Penney. In making the announcement, the company also said that that Myron E. (Mike) Ullman has rejoined Penney as CEO, effective immediately. Ullman, who served as CEO of Penney until late 2011, has also been elected to the board of directors.

Johnson’s departure was not all that unexpected given the chain’s mounting losses and sales declines. But it was still a stunning reversal of fortune for the former golden boy of Apple, who left the tech giant amid great fanfare for the top job at Penney.