Retail

Hangzhou, China – Alibaba Holding Group Inc. is reportedly considering a cash investment in Indian e-commerce platform Snapdeal. According to Reuters, Alibaba is in ongoing negotiations with Snapdeal, but no agreement is imminent.

Alibaba does not hold any direct investments in India, although Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial purchased 25% of Indian payment services provider Paytm in February 2015.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. laid off 1,700 mostly headquarters employees on Tuesday and is eliminating 1,400 open positions. According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Target notified employees of the workforce reduction in an email.

The cuts are part of a two-year, $2 billion corporate restructuring. Roughly 13% of the jobs in Target’s Minneapolis workforce will be eliminated, the report noted.

New York -- Yet another online company has entered the physical retail space: Google has opened an in-store shop in Currys PC World, on Tottenham Court Road in London. It is the first time the Internet giant has opened a retail space under its own name, and two additional shops are slated to open later this year, in Currys PC World’s Fulham and Thurrock locations.

Alpharetta, Ga. --  Brixmor Property Group announced the opening of a 24,000-sq.-ft. REI at Mansell Crossing in Alpharetta, Georgia.  This is the fifth Atlanta-area location for the national outdoor retailer.

Portland -- Sephora has achieved an eight-times faster growth rate with its digital gifting revenue since deploying a prepaid commerce solution from CashStar. The beauty retailer has also seen a 51% redemption rate within the first month of activation, and a 30% higher initial purchase value compared to plastic gift cards, since implementing CashStar Commerce.

Phoenix – PetSmart on Wednesday named industry veteran Michael J. Massey as its president and CEO, effective immediately. Massey, who most recently served as CEO and president of Collective Brands Inc., replaces David Lenhardt, who stepped down upon the closing of private equity firm BC Partners’s acquisition of the pet supplies retailer.  Also, BC Partners managing partner Raymond Svider has been appointed non-executive chairman.

New York -- Triple Five Group,  the company that owns and manages the nation’s largest shopping center, Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., and the largest one in North America, West Edmonton Mall, Alberta (Canada), is looking to build its largest center yet. The company has proposed a sprawling mega-mall and entertainment destination near Miami Lakes in Northwest Miami-Dade County. As outlined in an article in the Miami Herald, the project would include a Legoland and an indoor ski slope.

Philadelphia -- Tween and teen retailer Five Below will open three stores in Alabama, its first ever in the state, on March 13.

The stores, which average 7,500 sq.-ft. each, are located in Huntsville, Florence and Gadsden.

"Entering Alabama is an important next step as we continue to grow our footprint across the country," said Joel Anderson, CEO of Five Below. "We're excited to open the first of what we hope to be many stores in this great state.”