aggregatedcontent

RadioShack's rescue deal to keep 1,740 stores open was attacked on Thursday by the bankrupt retailer's top creditor, a failed bidder who called the auction a sham and sought a new sale. RadioShack, which filed for bankruptcy last month, told a U.S. bankruptcy judge it had selected the Standard General hedge fund as the winning bidder in the private four-day auction, which ended just before Thursday's hearing. The hedge fund plans to operate the stores in conjunction with wireless phone company Sprint Corp. 

GameStop Corp., faced with a shrinking core business selling video games, is accelerating its effort to diversify by adding to its stores that offer AT&T Inc. wireless plans and acquiring other technology retail chains. The Grapevine, Texas-based company, which won court approval to take over 163 locations from bankrupt RadioShack Corp., is looking for acquisitions, Chief Operating Officer Tony Bartel said in an interview Thursday after reporting fourth-quarter results. The retailer is evolving into a holding company for a variety of store concepts, he said.

Australian class action law firm Slater & Gordon Ltd filed a suit against surf-wear retailer Billabong International Ltd, accusing it of "conduct that was misleading or deceptive" in a series of earnings updates four years ago. In a statement filed in the Federal Court of Victoria state on Wednesday, and obtained by Reuters a day later, Slater & Gordon said its client, the Malone Family Superannuation Fund, was seeking unspecified damages from Billabong, which it accused of breaching its disclosure obligations.

Walgreens will no longer require its cashiers to send each customer off with the words, "Be well." A spokesman said the campaign had run its course, though the company didn't elaborate on why the effort, launched several years ago, was dropped. "It's accomplished its goal of reinforcing our branding," spokesman Michael Polzin said. "We'll continue to build our relationships with customers in other ways."

The breakup between American Apparel and Dov Charney keeps getting messier — and could get a lot more expensive, too. The struggling clothing company's controversial founder is claiming more than $40 million in damages stemming from his surprise ouster last year, even as the retailer this week disclosed a probe by securities regulators into the affair. Los Angeles lawyer Keith Fink — who, in a twist, had formerly represented American Apparel employees suing Charney for harassment — said in a letter last week that the retailer is liable for $20 million to $25 million in damages for Charney's loss of employment. 

There was a time when it looked like Amazon.com wanted to become a destination for high-end fashion, but now that that goal is looking less attainable, the online retail giant may just acquire a destination instead. According to a report in Women's Wear Daily, Amazon is in "ongoing talks" to buy Net-a-Porter, which could be valued at as much as €2 billion (about $2.2 billion). Reps from both parties declined to comment, and it's always possible that the talks could lead to nothing, but the deal would make sense for a few reasons.

Facebook has courted businesses for years, urging them to join the platform and spend ad dollars on the social network. Now it wants to insert itself between businesses and their customers and stake its claim on the future of e-commerce. On Wednesday, Facebook announced it was launching "Businesses on Messenger," a set of new services that will allow companies to interact individually with customers through Facebook's messenger app. Part of a larger rollout of Facebook's new platform strategy, Businesses on Messenger will potentially allow for a consumer to receive order notifications via instant message or buy items directly through the messenger app.

eBay agreed to nominate one additional woman to its board of directors earlier this week in response to mounting public pressure for diversity. The appointment of American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern to the eBay board came partially in response to a shareholder proposal filed last November by a group of investors that includes New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Trillium Asset Management, according to a news release Thursday. eBay has hired two women to its previously all-male board since January — the other woman was NBC Universal Cable Entertainment chair Bonnie Hammer on Jan. 6. 

American Apparel said in a filing on Wednesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered an investigation into a potential legal violation related to its founder and former Chief Executive Officer Dov Charney. The filing said the investigation is a nonpublic, fact-finding inquiry into matters arising from the board committee's review that formalized Charney's firing in December 2014. The fashion retailer said it intends to cooperate fully with the regulator in its investigation.

A strengthened omnichannel fulfillment model helped slow the pace of sales declines at Toys"R"Us last year, and now the retailer is looking to execute the next phases of its transformation strategy to restore profitable growth. The company spelled out details of its strategy on March 25 during an investor conference with presentations from Antonio Urcelay, chairman and CEO, Hank Mullany, president of Toys"R"Us, U.S., and Mike Short, executive vice president and CFO. During 2015, the company said its "TRU Transformation" strategy will focus on four key priorities: