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Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners has purchased Things Remembered from Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. (BRS) and GB Merchant Partners for $295 million. “GBMP and BRS were excellent partners, providing valuable strategic guidance and capital support throughout the investment period,” said Michael Anthony, CEO of Things Remembered, Highland Heights, Ohio, which operates 640 stores in the United States and Canada. “We now look forward to working with Madison Dearborn and benefitting from its expertise, as we remain focused on supporting our customers with the highest service and quality.” 

Bridgeline Digital announced that it's signed a multiyear agreement with UPS to offer B-to-B and B-to-C e-commerce web stores with an end-to-end offering comprised of Bridgeline's total e-commerce solution and UPS’ logistics and fulfillment services.

Chicago -- Claire's Stores announced Monday that its COO James G. Conroy has departed the company, effective immediately. Conroy's duties will be assumed by newly appointed CEO James D. Fielding, who will officially join Claire’s on June 18. Fielding had been president of Disney Stores Worldwide since May 2

Costco Wholesale Corp. has agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by 29 district attorneys in California that alleged the retailer failed to properly store and dispose of hazardous materials at dozens of outlets in the state. According to the lawsuit, over a five-year period Costco employees didn't label or sort hazardous materials that had sat unsold on shelves or that customers had returned for long periods of time. This included such items as oven cleaner, bleach, pool chlorine and nicotine patches. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Swedish home furnishings chain spent almost four years researching what the names of its products sound like in Thai, lest some of the translations sound a bit, well, crude. And for good reason: Hookway reports that the "Jättebra," a grey plant pot, could sound like slang for sex. So Ikea hired a team of Thai speakers to make sure that when the more than 9,000 items from its catalog are translated from Swedish to Thai, the translations are appropriate. 

Facebook hasn't yet confirmed whether it's the real Mark Zuckerberg, although it's a verified Fancy account, and the high-end Pinterest competitor has been generating a lot of buzz lately. The New York-based startup recently launched its own commerce platform, which is already seeing an average of roughly $50,000 in spending per week. It boasts nearly 1 million users, Kanye West's seal of approval, and a $100 million valuation thanks to the backing of PPR and angel investors such as Jack Dorsey, who sits on the company's board along with Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes.

San Francisco -- A report by Reuters said that U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Friday said he was "seriously concerned" about whether the female plaintiffs suing Wal-Mart Stores have sufficient evidence to proceed with their re-filed gender discrimination lawsuit. The group is again filing suit against Wal-Mart for allegedly denying them pay raises and promotions for gender-related reasons. The original class action suit of as many as 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart employers was dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The group filed a reformulated lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court in October, saying

The Fisher family, the founders of Gap Inc., have acquired a stake in high-end riding gear and apparel company Ariat International. The Fisher family, along with Ariat management, purchased the firm from LNK Partners and Brentwood Associates. Terms of the sale weren't disclosed.

/PRNewswire/ -- Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a two-for-one stock split of its outstanding common stock. The stock split will be effected in the form of a dividend of one share of Class A Common Stock for each share of Class A Common Stock outstanding and one share of Class B Common Stock for each share of Class B Common Stock outstanding. The additional shares issued as a result of the stock split will be distributed on or about July 9, 2012 to stockholders of record on June 25, 2012.