aggregatedcontent

San Diego-based pet supply chain Petco is set to buy a competitor, online pet product retailer Drs. Foster and Smith. Petco announced its agreement with the veterinary-owned company on Wednesday. Drs. Foster and Smith, based in Rhinelander, Wis., is widely regarded for its leadership in pet care and education, and its expertise in prescription medications for pets of all kinds.

Online powerhouse Zappos has opened its first-ever freestanding store, a 20,000 square-foot pop-up in the company's hometown of Las Vegas. Powered by state-of-the-art technology, the shop blends online and offline retail. In keeping with the brand's heritage, it will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from Nov. 21 until Dec. 31. 

Gap Inc. incoming Chief Executive Officer Art Peck is overhauling management at the ailing Banana Republic and Gap brands. Jeff Kirwan, 48, will replace Stephen Sunnucks as global president for the Gap chain in December, and Andi Owen, 49, will succeed Jack Calhoun on Jan. 5 as global president for Banana Republic, the retailer's upscale chain. The move marks Peck's first major decision since CEO Glenn Murphy said last month that he will step down in February. 

Patagonia is different from most retailers. The outdoors outfitter has a habit of telling customers not to buy its products. On Black Friday last year, the company had an "anti-Black Friday" event, encouraging people to get their gear repaired instead of buying new stuff. At the head is CEO Rose Marcario, who spent 15 years in finance before making the jump to Patagonia. We talked with Marcario about how Patagonia promotes social and environmental good — while also making profits.

Victoria's Secret wants to see what today's millennials are talking about with a new twist on mobile messaging. At the same time that practically all millennial-minded marketers are using Snapchat, Line, Kiik and every other social and mobile platform out there to get in touch with teens, Victoria's Secret has rolled out its own chat feature within its Pink shopping app. The lingerie brand is the first marketer to use a chatting feature from a mobile messaging app called Frankly.

Cosmetics retailer Sephora has blocked the online accounts of scores of customers with Asian names because it suspected them of buying discount items in bulk to resell them, a new lawsuit claims. The proposed class action was filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan by four U.S. women of Chinese descent who say their accounts were deactivated earlier this month because they have Asian surnames. The suit stems from a Nov. 6 promotional sale that caused Sephora's website to crash. 

Almost 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for Kmart to ensure that its workers have enough time off on Thanksgiving, part of a backlash against retailers that are open during the holiday. "We understand that it's retail, and employees understand that they have to work hours on holidays," the campaign's organizer, Jillian Fisher, said on the website coworker.org. "However, Kmart's unnecessary hours are forcing its employees to miss out on important time with their families." This year, Kmart stores will operate for 42 hours straight, until midnight on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Consumers misuse of Wal-Mart's price match program isn't limited to the PlayStation 4. But shoppers may find it's no longer so easy to replicate the feat. After Wal-Mart announced Nov. 13 that it would price match select online retailers, including Amazon.com, several customers used the program to buy $400 Playstation 4 consoles for under $100 using fake Amazon listings. Twitter and Reddit users posted pictures of receipts documenting PS4 prices as cheap as $90. "Sounds like Wal-Mart needs to trust, but verify," said Edgar Dworsky, founder of advocacy site ConsumerWorld.org.

A federal jury in California awarded nearly $186 million to a San Diego-area woman who sued AutoZone saying she was demoted and fired after being told pregnant women can't do the job of managing a store, her attorney said on Tuesday. "This is the third or fourth time they've been hit with punitive damages for doing the same thing," said Sean Simpson, who is part of the legal team representing plaintiff Rosario Juarez, 43. The award by a six-person jury, which follows a two-week trial, includes $872,720 in compensatory damages and another $185 million in punitive damages.

Dollar General may have to divest more than double the 1,500 stores it said it was willing to sell if it wants to gain regulatory approval to buy archrival Family Dollar. The Federal Trade Commission may require the country's No. 1 dollar store chain to divest more than 4,000 stores to win approval of its stalled $9.1 billion merger proposal, two sources close to the situation said Tuesday. There's concern among the FTC staff that the two chains are mainly in competition with each other — and not with Wal-Mart, drugstores and supermarkets, the sources said.