Mass Merchant

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores will introduce a holiday layaway plan effective Oct. 17 through Dec. 16. The program has a minimum layaway purchase of $50, and requires a 10% down payment. If the program is successful, Wal-Mart said it may extend it throughout the year.

When Wal-Mart phased out its previous layaway offer in September 2006, such programs had fallen out of popularity. But Sears and some merchants brought back layaways as the recession cut into spending.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us, which continues to implement its store integration strategy, has announced that it has improved its e-commerce, mobile and in-store shopping experience. 

Part of its multi-channel improvement effort, the company has enhanced its "buy online, pick up in store" program by giving shoppers the ability to designate an alternate person to pick up their order through "family and friends pick Up."  

San Francisco -- Gap has opened its first Banana Republic store in Russia, in Moscow's AfiMall City. In related news, the company will open its first Gap store in Belgrade, Serbia, on Friday.

“We are very proud to not only be introducing Banana Republic to Russia, but also opening our 200th franchise store,” said Stephen Sunnucks, president, international, Gap. “This is a significant landmark for our goal of growing our franchise store base to 400 by 2014.”

NEW YORK — The third annual Fashion’s Night Out -- created by Vogue editor Anna Wintour -- kicked off on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 6 p.m. Although the shopping extravaganza has spread to more than 100 U.S. cities as well as select cities abroad, its nexus remains in New York City. More than 1,000 Big Apple merchants and designers are participating in the event, which is the kickoff to the city’s Fashion Week industry gathering.

San Diego -- PriceSmart's same-store sales rose 17.7% in August. Total revenue for the five weeks ended Sept. 4 climbed 21.5% to $148.3 million.

PriceSmart also announced that on August 19, 2011 opened its first warehouse club in Colombia. This warehouse club, located in Barranquilla, brings to 29 the total number of warehouse clubs in operation by the company.

PriceSmart, based in San Diego, had 29 warehouse clubs at August's end. The company runs membership warehouse clubs in Central America and the Caribbean.

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy has joined the likes of Amazon and eBay with the launch of its own third-party shopping destination. The move comes as Best Buy looks to grow its online business as it struggles to maintain leadership of a saturated consumer electronics market.

According to Best Buy, Best Buy Marketplace will increase the company's online product assortment by one third in time for holiday shopping.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Raj Penkar will be joining Sears Holdings on Sept. 15 as senior VP and president, supply chain. He will be accountable for all aspects of the company's supply chain, including logistics, warehousing, inventory management and distribution. 

Penkar joins Sears Holdings following a successful 24-year career at UPS, where he most recently served as president of UPS' customer solutions division.
 

New York City -- The third annual Fashion’s Night Out -- created by Vogue editor Anna Wintour -- is set to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 6 p.m. Although the shopping extravaganza has spread to more than 100 U.S. cities as well as select cities abroad, its nexus remains in New York City. More than 1,000 Big Apple merchants and designers are participating in the event, which is the kickoff to the city’s Fashion Week industry gathering.