Omnichannel

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. has made two e-commerce acquisitions aimed at expanding its presence in the growing cooking and kitchenware market. The retailer said it has acquired CHEFS Catalog and assets of Cooking.com in two separate transactions.  

New York -- Herald Center, the giant 10-story, 250,000-sq.-ft. black glass retail and office property at the southwest corner of 34th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, is about to undergo a major transformation under long-time owner JEMB Realty. The property will be completely reclad to create a new leasing opportunity encompassing more than 50,000 sq. ft. of prime retail space at one of the most heavily trafficked, high-visibility corners in the world.

SAN FRANCISCO — Target has agreed to buy Chefs Catalog from JH Partners, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in investing growth capital in consumer-focused companies. 

Chefs Catalog is a leading direct-to-consumer specialty retailer of top-rated cookware, bake ware, cutlery, kitchen tools and cooking utensils including such brands as All-Clad, Cuisinart and Kitchenaid.  JH Partners acquired Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Chefs Catalog from The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. in 2004. 

DENVER — PaySimple, the cloud-based platform for managing and growing small businesses, has launched a redesigned mobile payment and business management iOS application accompanied by a new mobile credit card reader. The updated Run-Your-Business App offers service-based business owners the flexibility they need to operate their companies from anywhere and from a range of devices.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — DollarDays.com, an online wholesale distributor, has recently joined forces with Bongo International to offer customers located worldwide the same discounts and service that U.S. clients have enjoyed for over 12 years. Bongo International is a global e-commerce solution providing U.S. retailers access to international markets with no change to their current operations.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot, announced that it has won two Silver Stevie Awards in the seventh annual Stevie Awards for sales and customer service. 

Office Depot was honored with Silver Stevie Awards for e-commerce customer service, which recognized Office Depot’s expanded chat services for web customers and the telesales team of the year.

Philadelphia -- PCSTrac, in partnership with Urban Outfitters, has launched the next generation of StoreTrac software,a web-based inventory control and management application for retail store operations.

The enhanced application delivers a store-level snapshot of shipments by volume and category type, as well as key details such as SKU, style, item quantity, item description, and shipment history on forthcoming shipments.

PHILADELPHIA — Net income rose to $83 million at Urban Outfitters for its fourth quarter from $39.26 million in the year-ago period, on strong same-store sales and higher revenue.

Total company net sales for the quarter increased 17% to $857 million. Comparable retail segment net sales, which include comparable direct-to-consumer channel, increased 11% for the quarter, while comparable-store net sales were flat.