Supply Chain & Merchandising

Bentonville, Ark. – It’s no secret that a big part of Wal-Mart’s strategy is to maintain its market share in the face of competition from Amazon.com, and maybe even steal some away.

But Wal-Mart is now taking the fight for customers directly to Amazon in a big way with a new pricing and shipping promotion that directly challenges the upcoming July 15 Amazon “Prime Day” event.

Quebec -- The Quebec City-based Simons department store chains is planning to extend its brand across Canada, according to Canada’s Global News.

The 175-year-old Canadian retailer - plans to spend up to $200 million over the next four years on its expansion plan, which will result in eight additional stores openings across the country, the report said.

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Oracle is enabling retailers to fulfill orders in the cloud with two new product releases on the Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud platform. The two solutions, Oracle Order Management Cloud and Oracle Global Order Promising Cloud, provide modern order promising, management, visibility and fulfillment capabilities.

Salt Lake City – Overstock.com is expanding the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables for its customers. The off-price e-commerce retailer already makes fresh farm-grown produce available to nearly half of Americans through its online farmers market store, which serves customers in 35 states.

Chain Store Age recently published a list of the top 10 most-read stories of the first half of 2015, and eight are directly focused on brick-and-mortar stores. This is no great surprise because even as retail and society and general enter a true “Digital Age,” physical stores remain as crucial as they were in the pre-industrial era.

Here are three reasons that brick-and-mortar stores are still a vital part of any retailer’s omnichannel strategy.

The private equity firms that paid a premium to take Michaels private nearly a decade ago continue to gradually unwind their majority position in the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailer.

San Jose, Calif. – The upcoming spinoff of its PayPal unit may not be the only deal eBay Inc. has in the works.

According to Reuters, eBay is in advanced talks with private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP to acquire eBay’s enterprise business for close to $1 billion.

Peoria, Ill. - Cullinan Properties has acquired an approximately 264-acre site located at the northeast intersection of interstates 55 and 80 in Joliet, Illinois. The property was purchased from O & S Holdings, LLC who acquired the property in 2008, and originally entered into an agreement to develop a project known as Bridge Street Town Center.

However, with the sale of the property, O & S Holdings has terminated the original development agreement. “