Personnel Updates
• Best Buy Co. Inc. has lost its Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Revelle, to Kohl’s Corporation.
• Dollar General Corp. announced that James Thorpe, Exec VP and Chief Merchandising Officer, has retired.
• Hhgregg Inc. announced Sam Johnson has left the company.
• Target Corporation announced it has appointed Jeff Burt as Senior VP Grocery, Fresh Food, Beverage.
• Walmart Stores Inc. has promoted Fiona Tan to VP Consumer Technology, Jae Evans to VP Technical Engineering and Jaya Kolhatkar to VP Analytics. The retailer also announced it is reorganizing its U.S. technology division and will eliminate 300 jobs across its information systems division at its headquarters.
Mergers and Acquisitions
• 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. announced that Ferrero International S.A. will acquire the company’s subsidiaries Fannie May Confections and Harry London Candies.
• Dollar General Corp. is acquiring 323 Dollar Express Stores LLC locations across 36 states. The stores were sold off by Family Dollar to gain regulatory approval for that chain’s merger with Dollar Tree. The stores will be rebranded as Dollar General stores.
• Party City Holdco Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire a master franchise group representing 18 franchise stores in North Carolina and South Carolina.
• PETCO Animal Supplies Inc. has acquired PetCoach, a pet advice website and app.
• Walmart Stores Inc. announced it plans to acquire online fashion brand ModCloth, Inc.
Industry Insight
• Amazon.com Inc. has announced that it will open its second Massachusetts bookstore in the town of Lynnfield.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. has partnered with Shipt, a membership-based delivery service for online groceries. Shipt offers unlimited grocery deliveries for a $99 annual membership fee.
• PETCO Animal Supplies Inc. has been honored by the Ethisphere Institute for the sixth consecutive year as the world’s most ethical company.
• RadioShack Corporation announced it may lay off as many as 150 people and close its Fort Worth, TX, headquarters as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.
• Walmart Stores Inc. has announced plans to enhance its presence in Brazil over the next three years.
Real Estate
• Apple Inc.’s Chicago, IL, flagship store is slated for an October opening.
• Dollarama Group L.P. has revised its long-term target from 1,400 locations to 1,700.
• Five Below Inc. announced plans to open 100 new stores in 2017.
• GameStop Holdings Corp. announced plans to close between 2% to 3% of its global store count.
• HHGregg Inc. has announced it now plans to close all 220 stores amidst its recent filings for bankruptcy. All stores are expected to close by the end of May.
• Target Corporation announced plans to open its first location in midtown Manhattan. Projected to open in October, the 43,000 sq. ft. store in Herald Square store will be one of 30 stores Target plans to open this year.
• Target Corporation has unveiled its next-generation store format, which will make its debut in Richmond, TX, in October. In addition to the new 124,000 sq. ft. store, 40 additional Target locations will receive elements of the redesign when they are updated, also in October 2017.
