Mass Merchant

Minneapolis – Best Buy Inc. is reportedly considering selling off its Chinese business or finding a partner to help operate it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Best Buy is working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to examine its options in China.

The Shopko Foundation has announced the recipients of its Shopko Teammate and Family Scholarships for the 2014-2015 school year. The foundation awarded $75,000 in scholarships to 30 students in 9 states.

Boulder, Colo. — Kroger is the highest ranked gasoline retailer for customer satisfaction among American consumers. According to a new study of 5,300 consumers from Market Force Information, Costco and Quik Trip tied for second, Sam’s Club ranked third, and Murphy USA, which operates standalone stations and on-site stations at Walmart Supercenters, was fourth.

Former Walmart CEO Lee Scott is among four new members of board of directors at Yahoo, a company whose CEO Marissa Mayer serves on the Walmart board.

More than a dozen of Walmart’s top merchants are in new roles following a realignment of responsibilities that chief merchandising and marketing officer Duncan Mac Naughton said is designed to recognize customers’ needs and serve them more efficiently.
 

Framingham, Mass. - Staples Inc. is offering a new back-to-school 110% price match guarantee. Starting June 29, Staples customers are guaranteed to pay the lowest price every time they shop in store or online. Staples will price match items sold and shipped by Amazon.com or any retailer who sells products in both retail stores and online under the same brand.

Duluth, Minn. – Specialty young women’s apparel store Maurices plans to open 15 new stores, including seven grand openings and eight reopenings, through the middle of July. The new stores include:

Grand Openings:
June 27: Lufkin, Texas at Lufkin Mall and Greensburg, Indiana, at Greensburg Crossing.
July 4: Aurora, Colorado, at The Gardens on Havana.
July 5: Hoffman Estates, Illinois, at Poplar Creek Crossing.

Intense price competition during back-to-school season is nothing new, but the competition now occurs on the shifting sands of an increasingly dynamic online world.