Supply Chain & Merchandising

New York City -- Ann Inc. said that the president of its Ann Taylor brand, Christine Beauchamp, is leaving to pursue other opportunities. She will be replaced by Brian Lynch, who had been president of the Ann Taylor Factory and Loft Outlet divisions and led the website sales for those brands.

The news came as the chain cut its revenue prediction for the quarter that ended in January to a level below analyst expectations, citing slumping sales at its Ann Taylor stores. 

Deerfield, Ill. -- BioScrip Inc. said it will sell certain assets of its community specialty pharmacies and centralized specialty and mail service pharmacy businesses to Walgreens for about $225 million.

The deal includes about $170 million in cash at closing and retention by BioScrip of associated accounts receivable and working capital liabilities of about $55 million.

Rochelle Park, N.J. -- A Wednesday report by Bloomberg said that United Retail Group Inc., parent to plus-size retailer The Avenue, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retailer cited disproportionately high leasing costs for the move and also announced plans to sell the company.

According to Bloomberg, an affiliate of Philadelphia-based private equity firm Versa Capital Management will serve as the stalking-horse bidder in a court-supervised auction.

Little Rock, Ark. -- Dillard’s said Wednesday it has made a strategic investment in e-commerce company Acumen Brands in a move toward enhancing the department store retailer’s website dillards.com, as well as Acumen’s 12 e-commerce sites.

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM said Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Emptoris Inc., expanding IBM’s cloud-based analytics offerings that provide supply chain intelligence, or smarter commerce.

“Developing the right procurement strategy and an adaptive supply chain are keys to achieving the business objectives of smarter commerce,” said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Industry Solutions. “Together, Emptoris and IBM's integrated solutions will transform how clients manage compliance and mitigate supply risk.”

SEATTLE — Amazon.com enjoyed tremendous sales growth in the fourth quarter, but it came at a steep price as expenses grew faster than sales due to investments to support future growth.

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack announced that preliminary net sales and operating revenues for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011 increased approximately 6% to $1.39 billion compared with $1.31 billion for the fourth quarter last year. Comparable-store sales for company-operated stores increased approximately 2% during the 2011 fourth quarter.

The company said it expects diluted earnings per share for the 2011 fourth quarter to be in the range of 11 cents to 13 cents, compared with 51 cents per diluted share reported in the 2010 fourth quarter.

Pittsburgh -- American Eagle Outfitters said Tuesday that its debut store in Israel will open on Thursday at Ramat Aviv Mall, in Tel Aviv.

Ten additional locations are planned over the next month, in locations such as The Big Mall in Petach Tikva, Kiryat Ono Mall, and Mall of Haifa. The franchise stores will be operated by Fox-Wizel Ltd., a leading retailer and wholesaler in the region.