Mass Merchant

Forget looking under the tree Christmas morning. Grab the smartphone and check the inbox for an e-gift card. Walmart this week promoted an offering of 19 customizable e-gift cards as a gift-giving solution that is sure to have appeal to those who wait until Santa is halfway down the chimney. The entire transaction is handled online, from the ordering of the card, to delivery in the recipient’s inbox through redemption, which is only valid for online purchases. 

Philadelphia -- Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based WP Realty said it has acquired Mayfair Shopping Center, located in Philadelphia.

Mayfair is a single-story, 115,411-sq.-ft. community shopping center comprised of four buildings, including one bank pad (Wachovia). The center is anchored by national and regional retailers including Shop ‘n Bag, Dollar Tree and Fashion Bug.

Mayfair Shopping Center is currently 86% occupied with 16,339 sq. ft. of available retail space.

Hudson, Ohio -- Jo-Ann Stores said Thursday it has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners for $1.6 billion in cash.

Los Angeles-based Leonard Green’s acquisition of the U.S.’s largest fabric retailer follows its $3 billion purchase of J. Crew, announced in late November.

Going private will enable Jo-Ann Stores to renovate stores and accelerate the chain’s expansion. It currently operates 756 stores.

Connecting Northwest Arkansas earlier this month published the results of a survey of Walmart suppliers that revealed some interesting insights and this week spawned a few inaccurate headlines from various news organizations. The most notable was a headline on a Bloomberg story, which said Walmart suppliers lacked confidence in company CEO Mike Duke and that senior managers were explaining the company’s strategy. That’s a powerful statement and would be quite an indictment of the company’s chief executive and senior leadership team, if it were true.

The age old question of what to get the person who has everything has finally been answered, and a Walmart gift card appears to be the ultimate solution for the perplexed gift-giver. That’s according to the gift card exchange website www.giftcardrescue.com and survey involving 6,000 people who created gift card wish lists on its site since the beginning of the year.

Union, N.J. -- Bed Bath & Beyond said Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended Nov. 27 rose 28% to $188.6 million, compared with $151.3 million in the year-ago period.

Results topped analyst expectations.

Revenue rose 11% to $2.2 billion, edging Wall Street expectations of $2.11 billion in revenue. Same-store sales increased 7%.

MOORESVILLE, N.C.  - Lowe’s announced that it is the first national retailer to offer consumers the industry’s first and only Energy Star-rated LED A-Line bulb. 

The GE Energy Smart 9-watt LED light bulb is rated to last more than 22 years, according to Lowe's, and is priced at $34.98.

TORONTO - Sears Canada announced that it has appointed Sharon Driscoll as SVP and CFO. Driscoll has held her current position with the company as SVP finance, since November of 2008.

Prior to joining Sears in 2008, Driscoll was employed with Loblaw Companies Limited, holding the position of SVP corporate development, and before that SVP finance national merchandising and SVP finance retail Ontario region.