Mass Merchant

Minneapolis -- Best Buy announced Tuesday it is expanding the Best Buy Mobile brand and store-within-a-store concept into 14 Five Star stores throughout Nanjing, China, this summer.

The expansion of Best Buy Mobile into the Chinese market is the first evolution of Global Connect, a partnership that was formed in November 2011 between Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse.

Walmart's Asda business earned the title of "Lowest Priced Supermarket" at The Grocer Gold Awards for the 15th straight year. The retailer was also named "Britain’s Favorite Supermarket" for the second year in a row.

New Orleans — Despite reporting an uptick in organized retail crime, the National Retail Federation revealed that retail theft rates decreased in 2011, according to preliminary results of the organization's latest National Retail Security survey.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys“R”Us has brought the excitement of "The Amazing Spider-Man" to its customers with a dedicated in-store boutiques and a special display at its Times Square location.

Now available at Toys“R”Us and Toysrus.com  are exclusive The Amazing Spider-Man items, including:

• The Amazing Spider-Man Sling & Soak Water Shooter from Hasbro              

Seattle — Former Nordstrom executive, Loretta Soffe, has joined the advisory board of Zoomingo, which creates shopping discovery apps that help consumers find the best sales in their local stores anywhere in the nation.

Soffe spent 24 years at Nordstrom in buying, merchandising and product development. For the last 10 years, she served as EVP, general merchandise manager of women's, the largest division in the company with annual sales of $2.0 billion.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Payless is reaching out to women with uncommon shoe sizes by offering a wide range of popular styles for the summer season in size 11, 12 and 13 and in wide width options at prices as low as just $15 a pair.

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The Children's Place Retail Stores is expanding its presence in the Middle East with franchise agreements to open stores in the Arab Gulf States of United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman as well as Saudi Arabia. The first stores are scheduled to open in the UAE in September 2012 in Dubai and Sharjah. The first two stores in Saudi Arabia are scheduled to open during the second quarter of 2012.

New York -- Large emerging markets with an active online user base and solid infrastructure offer retailers the greatest e-commerce potential in the near-term, according to a new study by A.T. Kearney’s Global Consumer Institute. The study ranks the 10 countries with the greatest potential for e-commerce growth, and China tops the list, followed by Brazil (#2), Russia (#3), Chile (#4) and Mexico (#5).