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American Greetings Corporation announced it has acquired all of the outstanding senior secured debt of Clinton Cards for approximately $56 million through a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Clinton Cards, one of the largest specialty retailers of greetings cards in the U.K., has approximately 750 stores and annual revenues of approximately $600 million across its two primary retail brands, Clinton Cards and Birthdays. The legacy Clinton Cards business has been an important customer to American Greetings’ international business for approximately 40 years and is one of American Greetings' largest customers.

/PRNewswire/ -- Innovative product development company and multi-channel lifestyle retailer Brookstone, Inc. announced today that, for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, consolidated net sales increased 11.2% to $89.1 million and EBITDA improved 18.1% to $(9.7) million from the first quarter of 2011. Net sales in the Retail channel increased $3.7 million, or 5.9%, to $67.5 million and same-store sales increased 7.9% as compared to the first quarter of 2011. These increases were due in part to improved selling efforts at our retail stores, offset by a net decrease in the number of stores from 300 to 284.

Amazon.com said it plans to open a new 70,000 square-foot customer service facility in Winchester, Ky., near Lexington. Amazon said it will invest more than $20.7 million and create more than 550 full-time and 600 seasonal jobs by 2017 at the facility, which will provide customer service and technical support. The retailer said the Winchester customer service center is expected to open in late summer and will be based at a temporary location until the permanent facility opens in 2013.

, Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. (Company) announced that Michael G. Archbold, the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) is leaving the Company effective as of June 30, 2

Maxymiser offers retailers five signs to help them know if their online customers are cheating on them, along with tips on how they can use website testing and personalization to win them back.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Despite dropping from the previous year, Kohl's said its net income for the first quarter ended April 28 was in line with its expectations. The company reported net income of $154 million (63 cents per diluted share) compared with $201 million ($0.69 per diluted share) a year ago. Net sales were $4.2 billion, an increase of 1.9%for the quarter. Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 0.2 percent. Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, president and CEO, said, “Our first quarter results reflect the implementation of our strategy to initiate lower pricing in order to provide greater value

Visualitee has launched the first website dedicated solely to selling augmented reality (AR)-enabled apparel and merchandise. The new e-commerce site, Visualitee.com, is headed by a seasoned group of augmented reality professionals and will offer the most comprehensive collection of AR-enabled merchandise. In addition to carrying a wide variety of AR merchandise, the site will also facilitate independent artists and labels to venture into the quickly growing AR segment. AR enables inanimate objects such as T-shirts to "come to life" with a simple 1-2-3 process. 

LuxeYard, the boutique luxury flash-sale site, announced that it signed an agreement to acquire LeatherGroups.com, the online division of Solana Beach, Calif.-based furniture retailer homeLOFT. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The transaction was led by LuxeYard CEO Braden Richter and coincides with the creation of an acquisitions team, which will be based in LuxeYard's New York office. The company is actively pursuing several other acquisitions as part of its effort to consolidate the flash-sale category and to reinvent the future of social and mobile e-commerce with its concierge buying and group buy technologies.

Sierra Trading Post, a closeouts direct marketer based in Wyoming, announces a new director of retail operations, Brent Layton. Under Layton's direction, the company plans to open several retail outlet stores in the U.S. "Although we are a Top 100 Internet retailer, we recognize that 90 percent of consumer sales in the U.S. are handled by brick-and-mortar stores," said Gary Imig, president of Sierra Trading Post. "To build a community of brand enthusiasts and to gain new shoppers and retain existing customers, we plan to expand our retail presence, and Brent Layton is an important component of that plan."