News

FREEPORT, Maine — L.L.Bean announced that, effective March 25, it will offer free standard shipping to all United States and Canadian.

“We tested free shipping offers with no minimum purchase for several months and the customer response was overwhelming,” said Chris McCormick, president and CEO, L.L.Bean. “Our customers want and value free shipping. It’s our opportunity to offer free shipping for all U.S. and Canadian customers with no minimum purchase, no end date, no conditions -- guaranteed.”

NEW YORK -- Teen fashion retailer Delia's has announced the appointment of two shareholder representatives to its board of directors effective March 25. The two new directors are Michael Zimmerman, the founder and CEO of Prentice Capital Management, LP, and Mario Ciampi, the managing partner of Prentice Capital Management, LP. Zimmerman will also serve as a member of the corporate governance and nominating committee, and Ciampi will be a member of the compensation Committee.

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced that it was recognized this week by the Association of Fundraising Professionals with the organization's 2011 Freeman Philanthropic Services Award for Outstanding Corporation.

New York City -- Borders Group, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February and has announced plans to close about a third of its stores, said it plans to pay key employees as much as $8.3 million in incentives and retention bonuses, Bloomberg reported.

The retailer asked a judge to approve its plan in a filing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Courty in New York. Borders said it has historically compensated employees through incentives.

Dollar General maintained its momentum in 2010 by achieving record sales, profits and expansion and it’s looking like 2011 will bring more of the same. Last year, Dollar General opened 600 new stores and remodeled or relocated another 504 units to end its fiscal year on Jan. 28 with 9,372 stores. The additional square footage combined with a 4.9% same store sales increase enabled the company to grow total sales by 10.5% to roughly $13 billion.

WAYNE, N.J. – The Toys“R”Us Children’s Fund has made an additional donation of $500,000 to Save the Children, bringing the Fund’s total contribution to $1 million to support the organization’s relief efforts for children and families impacted by the crisis in Japan.

Target made an original donation of $500,000 to Save the Children earlier this month.

DULUTH, Ga. -- NCR Corp. announced that the current release (version 5) of its NCR SelfServ Checkout solution has won a Good Design Award for product design excellence in the electronics category.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- In yet another example of how discount stores are dominating the retail industry these days, Fred's Inc. reported strong earnings and sales growth for its fiscal fourth quarter. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $8.6 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, a 49% increase over last year's reported net income of $5.8 million or 15 cents per diluted share. For the year ended Jan.