Retail

Wayne, N.J. — Toys ‘R Us Inc. has opened a new distribution center in Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry, France to support the company's expanding e-commerce business throughout France and in select sections of Europe. The 550,000-sq.-ft. facility will service retail distribution to the country's 48 store locations and e-commerce operations throughout France.

Fast growing grocery delivery service Instacart is adding a value-oriented chain to its network of grocery stores.

The company announced it is teaming up with Smart & Final to allow customers in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area to choose from virtually any items carried at their local Smart & Final store and have them delivered in as little as one hour.

Prices on Instacart will match Smart & Final's everyday low in-store prices, excluding special offers.

Phoenix — Vestar announced the signing of Forever 21’s newest concept store, F21 red, at Tempe Marketplace, in Tempe, Ariz. The 1,000-sq.-ft. store, the first F21 in Arizona, will open this fall.

The F21 red brand will offer a larger merchandise selection and lower prices of the trendy fashion forward styles for young men and women than the typical Forever 21 store.

Efforts to transform the customer experience and optimize e-commerce capabilities at Toys”R”Us are getting a boost in Europe with a new distribution center.

The retailer says it has completed a new distribution center in Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry, France, to support the company's rapidly expanding e-commerce business throughout the country and in select sections of Europe.

New York — Gap stores have failed to keep up with the fashion tastes of millennial shoppers, who have a much different fashion sense than the generation before them, according to the Washington Post. Read the full story here.

Armonk, N.Y. — Retailers looking ahead to meeting the needs of holiday shoppers should be aware of the continuing growth of mobile’s importance as a consumer channel. According to IBM’s Eighth Annual Online Retail Holiday Readiness Report, mobile accounted for 23% of sales and 45% of traffic in November and December 2014, respectively.

Los Angeles - Marketing services company Connexity Inc. has acquired the PriceGrabber retail lead generation platform and network. The company will provide shopping leads that result in more than $2 billion in annual sales for retailers and brands.

PriceGrabber's shopping-focused publisher network offers more than 2,000 retailers marketing access to tens of millions of shoppers each month from online shopping destinations such as Yahoo!, Ask.com and PriceGrabber.com. Retailers will manage a single lead channel.

Toano, Va. – The executive shakeup continues at Lumber Liquidators as the company integrates the leadership of its merchandising and marketing departments. Marco Q. Pescara, the company's chief marketing officer since 2006, has been promoted to serve as chief merchandising and marketing officer effective June 19.

Pescara will lead the company's marketing and merchandising functions. The employment of William K. Schlegel, current chief merchandising officer, will be terminated effective June 19.