News

Houston - Men's Wearhouse has increased its purchase offer for Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. to $63.50 per share, or about $1.78 billion, from $57.50 per share, or about $1.6 billion. The bid may increase to $65 a share, or about $1.82 billion, if Jos. A. Bank agrees to halt its planned acquisition of Eddie Bauer and lets Men’s Wearhouse conduct limited due diligence. On February 14, Jos. A. Bank agreed to buy Eddie Bauer for $825 million, but reserved the right to terminate the deal if a superior transaction emerged.

New York -- Eminence Capital LLC, which owns 4.9% of the common stock of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. has issued a statement in support of the new offer by The Men's Wearhouse for the company. The statement, attributed to Eminence CEO Ricky C. Sandler, says that combining the two companies the best outcome for all shareholders.

New York – An overwhelming majority (79%) of shoppers say they shop at their favorite retailers/brands because they trust the brand, according to a survey of 15,000 online shoppers by the PwC US Retail & Consumer practice.  In other survey findings, 37% of U.S. shoppers do not use their smartphone for shopping because of security concerns, and 61% noted deals and promotions as the reason for following a brand’s social media site.

San Jose, Calif. – Billionaire investor Carl Icahn and EBay are engaging in a public war of words that was ignited by an open letter Icahn sent to EBay shareholders on Monday, Feb. 24. In the letter, Icahn accused EBay CEO John Donahoe of ignoring conflicts of interest on its board and called for the company to spin off PayPal.

Little Rock, Ark. – Dillard’s Inc. reported declining net income for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014. Compared to the same period a year earlier, Dillard’s reported a 26% decline in net income to $119.1 million from $161.4 million.

Net sales in the fourth quarter declined 3% to $2.03 billion from $2.1 billion, and same-store sales grew 2%. During the fiscal year, net income dropped about 4% to $323.7 million from $336 million, and net sales slightly declined to $6.53 billion from $6.59 billion. Same-store sales rose 1%.

London  -- ECommera, a provider of Big Data and omni-channel commerce solutions for retailers, has completed a $41 million Series C funding round. Dawn Capital led the round together with investors West Coast Capital, Frog Capital, EPlanet Capital, WPP and new partner Wti.

Jersey City, N.J. -- Adam Meshekow, former mobile brand marketing manager for Toys “R” Us Inc., is joining mobile media solutions provider Single Touch Systems Inc. as head of national retail sales. Meshekow will work with management to help architect plans for future client engagement and product development and deployment.

Recent news that Starbucks will soon start offering a feature on its Square payment app that automatically prompts customers to leave a tip for appropriate purchases and also calculates “basic,” “better” and “best” tip amounts serves as a reminder of the three rules of modern CRM. Automate, automate, automate.

Single Touch Systems, a technology-based mobile media solutions provider, has named Adam Meshekow as head of national retail sales.

Meshekow will be responsible for the company's direct sales and marketing efforts and will work with management to help architect plans for future client engagement and product development and deployment.

Ebates, the owner and operator of the world's most rewarding shopping programs, has appointed Yen Lee as SVP of corporate development.