Distribution

Party City Holdco Inc. is looking to broaden its e-commerce reach.

The 900-store, vertical operator of the Party City and Halloween City party goods chains is launching a new e-commerce partnership with Staples Inc. Products manufactured and sourced by Party City will be merchandised and sold on Staples.com.

Sports Authority is taking steps towards filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer has a debt payment due in 10 days and in talk with its lenders about a reorganization plan under which it would close as many as 200 of its more than 450 stores, the report said.
 
Sports Authority reportedly skipped a $20 million in interest payment in January on a $343 million loan. It has 10 days to make the payment.

Publix and AmerisourceBergen on Thursday announced a long-term agreement encompassing the distribution of branded, generic and over-the-counter health and pharmaceutical products. The agreement also enables Publix’s network of more than 980 pharmacy locations across the southeast to expand patient access to specialty medications.

It makes no sense for Amazon.com to open the type of physical bookstores it helped obliterate, not when the online giant already has the physical infrastructure in place to support a large scale rollout of another type of store in one of retail’s hottest sectors.

Same-store sales at Costco were mostly flat in January across the globe, mirroring reports from other retailers reporting soft sales.

It makes no sense for Amazon.com to open the type of physical bookstores it helped obliterate, not when the online giant already has the physical infrastructure in place to support a large scale rollout of another type of store in one of retail’s hottest sectors.

Lowe's is making major moves in Canada with the $2.3 billion purchase of Rona Inc., a Canadian home improvement retailer and distributor.

Lowe's had previously made an unsolicited bid on the company more than three years ago, but the substantially higher offer this time around was accepted by Rona's board.

Supervalu Inc. has chosen a new leader to take the company forward as it prepares for a potential spin-off of Sav-a-Lot.

On Wednesday the company announced the appointment of Mark Gross as its president and CEO. Gross, 52, will succeed Sam Duncan who has previously announced he will be retiring.