News

Calvin Klein is aggressively expanding its e-commerce capabilities in an effort to directly sell the brand in more than 20 countries by the end of 2016, the company announced.

Gap has appointed a new CEO. Art Peck, currently president of the company’s growth, innovation and digital division, will succeed Glenn Murphy as the company’s next executive chief, effective Feb. 1, 2015.

The company said that after seven years in his role, Murphy made the personal decision to leave the company at the end of the fiscal year. Under Murphy’s stewardship, the company acquired new brands and globalized its business by expanding store locations from 10 to 50 countries, including China.

Orem, Utah – Checking the Yellow Pages for various types of information is a time-honored tradition, but now consumers can use the mobile version to find products. App developer Avantar is releasing a feature in the Yellow Pages app that lets shoppers pinpoint locations of products.  

New York - A Delaware judge has denied a request  to block Tuesday's vote by Family Dollar Stores on a  $8.5 billion take-over bid by Dollar Tree,  saying dissident shareholders "failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability of success on any of their claims."   A shareholder lawsuit had requested a preliminary injunction against the vote until Family Dollar “properly engaged” in talks  with rival Dollar General to “achieve a value-maximizing transaction.”  

Albertsons plans to acquire Safeway for $32 a share in a deal valued at roughly $9 billion that will create a supermarket chain with roughly 2,400 locations to rival market leader Kroger.

The deal announced late Thursday ended longrunning speculation regarding the potential acquisition of Safeway.

Austin, Texas - Epicor Software Corp. is launching a strategic partnership with integrated payment solutions provider AJB Software Design, Inc. to simplify and secure electronic payment acceptance at the point-of-purchase, enabling retailers to accommodate new and emerging methods of payment and comply with security best practices such as the forthcoming Europay, MasterCard and Visa (“EMV”) initiative.   

Belk Inc. has renewed its agreement with eBay Enterprise to manage multi-site customer support.

Belk first partnered with eBay Enterprise in 2008 with the launch of Belk.com. Since then, Belk has increased its online business significantly and eBay Enterprise has continued to support that growth by providing customer sales and service solutions through various contact channels.

As the retail industry enters the home stretch of the holiday season, it’s a fitting time to think about not just the gifts your customers are giving their loved ones, but gifts you can give your customers. Not gifts in the form of cash or merchandise (though surely your customers would gladly accept them), but gifts in the form of omnichannel features and services. Consider giving the following three omnichannel gifts to your customers for the holidays and beyond, if you haven’t already.