Retail

In what could be an important step for mobile payment, Walgreens is expanding the Apple Pay functionality it provides customers.

Members of Walgreens’ Balance Rewards program can now seamlessly use their account through Apple Pay, without separately scanning a Balance Rewards card or barcode. Members will have the ability to earn and redeem loyalty points via Apple Pay by adding the Balance Rewards digital card to the Wallet app in iOS 9 and using it at checkout.

Specialty athletic retailer City Sports never found its footing and, despite bringing in a veteran retailer to lead the 18-store operation, it has commenced going-out-of-business sales.

Gordon Brothers Group & Hilco Merchant Resources are managing the going-out-of-business process, which began Nov.6 at City Sports’ 18 stores in the Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Price match guarantees and claims of fantastic deals have become passé, so Staples is employing a new promotional tactic this holiday season that speaks directly to its core customer.

Staples is making the same claims as virtually every other retailer about its great deals, convenient shopping and omnichannel capabilities. However, to take those claims a step further in a way that speaks to its core customers, Staples has created a limited duration promotion it’s calling the “Business Savings Event.”

Walgreens may have to shutter as many as 3,000 stores in its bid to buy Rite Aid, or 65% of Rite Aid's store base, according to one real estate analyst in a Fortune story published Thursday, including 1,000 locations Walgreens is willing to jettison as part of any FTC negotiation and another 2,000 locations after the merger is complete.

Tommy Bahama has brought its combination retail and dining format to Honolulu's beachfront neighborhood of Waikiki.

Office Depot and Best Buy are intense competitors in many categories, but that didn’t stop the former from recognizing the latter’s sustainable purchasing practices.

Office Depot recently held its Eighth Annual Leadership in Greener Purchasing Awards ceremony in Denver alongside the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) World Workplace Conference & Expo.

Holiday shoppers have high expectations of their online customer experience this year.

According to the new JDA 2015 Consumer Survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, 50% 0f respondents indicate that they will be unforgiving of retailers who provide less than satisfactory online home delivery experiences.

Bass Pro Shops is exploring a bid for rival outdoors retailer Cabela's according to an exclusive report from Reuters. The news service says Bass Pro is working with an investment bank on the potential offer. Cabela's has recently begun to explore its options and has also reached out to private equity firms to solicit interest, Reuters says. [Reuters]