News

Books-A-Million OKs $21 million buyout
Birmingham, Ala. -- In a deal that may take it private again, Books-A-Million Inc. has given its OK to a buyout deal from the family of its original owners.

The chain reached an agreement to be acquired by a newly organized entity owned by the Anderson Family, which includes Books-A-Million executive chairman Clyde B. Anderson, for $21 million, or $3.25 a share in cash. (According to the most recent SEC filing, the Anderson family already owns 58.2% of the company).
GameStop completes geeky purchase
Grapevine, Texas – GameStop Corp. has completed a very geeky purchase. The video game chain has acquired 86% of outstanding shares of Geeknet Inc. in a tender offer that expired July 13, 2015.

GameStop Corp. purchased about 5.92 million shares for $20 per share in cash, or roughly $11.8 million. The retailer will make payment on July 17, 2015.

Staples' back-to-school blitz continues

The latest back-to-school promotion from Staples includes deeper discounts, a free trip to California for 50 students, and a new TV advertising campaign.

“This is our 29th back-to-school season at Staples. We’re using or knowledge and expertise to help parents, students and teachers get 110% ready for school with our lowest price guarantee,” Parneros said. “Whether shopping on Staples.com or in our stores with our amazing associates, Staples makes it easy to shop for students in elementary school through college.”
Target crosses channels to meet school shopper needs

Minneapolis – One way Target is trying to make shopping for school supplies hassle-free is with the School List Assist online hub. Currently in beta, School List Assist offers a curated assortment of the most common K-8 supplies on the list. Parents can purchase the school supplies their kids need and then pick them up in store or have them shipped to their homes.
The new face of denim at Express

Express has recruited a new supermodel to serve as the face of its fall 2015 denim collection.

U.S. supermodel Karlie Kloss will star in the retailer's "Fit for You" advertising campaign photographed by Lachlan Bailey and styled by Claire Richardson. The official campaign launches July 2015 in print, digital, in-store, and on social media.
Study: Consumers connect in many ways

Lewisville, Texas – Connected consumers are increasingly using a wide variety of channels on their path to purchase. According to new research from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions, the smartphone is the most prevalent Internet device, with 71% of shoppers using one daily.

Smartphone use is followed by laptop, 66%; desktop computer, 50%; and tablet, 43%.
Rent-A-Center sells 14 Canadian stores

Plano, Texas - Rent-A-Center Inc. has sold 14 rent-to-own stores located in Alberta and Ontario, Canada to Canadian merchandise leasing company Easyhome Ltd. The transaction included Rent-a-Center concurrently purchasing three Easyhome rent-to-own stores located in Florida, Missouri and New York.
Food Lion wants to be like Amazon.com and Walmart

Amazon.com and Walmart aren’t the only retailers lowering prices this month. Food Lion has jumped on bandwagon at its 1,100 stores with a three-pronged price reduction effort.

Food Lion has announced significant investments in prices throughout its stores by lowering prices on thousands of items that are most important to customers, according to the company, tapping into its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations.
Shoes for customers on the run

Vancouver – Customers on the run have a new option for purchasing shoes.

In an effort to enhance its mobile capabilities, OnlineShoes.com, a sister brand of Shoes.com, is launching a refreshed mobile responsive website.
Shoes.com still in growth mode

Shoes.com is laucnhing new efforts to make the shopping experience more convenient and accessible for customers on the go.

The company has launched a refreshed, mobile responsive OnlineShoes.com website and iOS app, designed to keep up with customer demand and enhance the mobile shopping experience for customers. The company will also release a mobile app for the Android platform that will debut later this summer.