Sales & Marketing

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire Vivisimo, a leading provider of federated discovery and navigation software that helps organizations access and analyze big data across the enterprise. Vivisimo is a privately held company based in Pittsburgh. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart announced that its Acres for America program is conserving an additional 300 acres of land to protect and restore wildlife habitats in the heart of U.S. cities, including Bridgeport, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.

Glendale, Calif. -- Glendale Galleria, a 1.5-million-sq.-ft. super-regional shopping center announced the architects who will work on the center's grand renovation project. Glendale Galleria is owned and operated by Chicago-based General Growth Properties.

The Brentwood, Tenn.-based farm and ranch retailer saw same-store sales increase 11.5% in the first quarter ended March 31. Net sales increased 22% to $1.02 billion.

Net income for the quarter was $40.3 million, compared to net income of $18.3 million in the same quarter last year.

Chicago -- Survey results released Thursday by WorkInRetail.com found that about one-third (32%) of retail hiring managers use social networking sites to research job candidates.

The new survey from WorkInRetail.com – CareerBuilder’s job site for retail professionals, found that of the retail employers who do not research candidates on social media, 16% said their company prohibits the practice. Nine percent report they do not currently use social media to screen, but plan to start.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Thursday urged the Federal Trade Commission to move cautiously in establishing regulations for mobile payments, and said any rules that are adopted should parallel those for the underlying form of payment and not be specific to the technology.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. reported Thursday that net income for the first quarter rose to $81.6 million, from $25.1 million in the year-earlier period.

Sales edged up 2.4% to $10 billion, from $9.8 billion last year. Same-store sales were flat.

“We continue to believe sales will grow as our new marketing initiatives take hold," said Steve Burd, chairman and CEO.

Loveland, Colo. -- The Promenade Shops at Centerra, located in Loveland, Colo., announced that Medicine Bow Furnishings has opened a new store at the south end of the center, across from Barnes & Noble.

The Promenade Shops at Centerra features over 72 shopping, dining and entertainment destinations.