Mergers & Acquisitions

Herman Miller has agreed to acquire Design Within Reach (DWR), a retailer of authored modern design that had revenues of approximately $218 million in 2013. Scheduled to close July 28, 2014, the deal will result in Herman Miller's 84 percent ownership, estimated to equal $154 million in cash. Today, DWR is the largest and fastest-growing retailer of Zeeland, Michigan-based Herman Miller's furniture. Brian Walker, CEO, Herman Miller, said in a statement released by the company, "The addition of DWR is a transformational step forward in realizing our strategy for diversified growth and establishing Herman Miller as a premier lifestyle brand." 

Navarro Discount Pharmacy, the drugstore chain that's operated in Miami-Dade for more than 50 years, will be acquired by retail giant CVS Caremark. CVS, based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, unveiled the definitive agreement to acquire Navarro after the stock markets closed Monday. Navarro, the country's largest Hispanic-owned drugstore chain, has annual sales of more than $340 million. Once the deal closes, the 33 stores will continue to operate under the Navarro Discount Pharmacy name, a well-known brand in South Florida that draws a loyal customer following, especially among Hispanics.

Nordstrom has invested in several digital-based startups, but it hasn't acquired many to date. That could change soon. The retailer has recently held acquisition talks with Trunk Club, an e-commerce company that offers a personal styling service for men, according to people familiar with the talks. Trunk Club customers consult with a stylist and then receive a mailing that contains an array of clothing options, such as jeans, shoes and blazers. Customers keep and pay for the items they want and mail the rest back for free. 

Kroger said Wednesday that it's buying Vitacost.com, an online seller of vitamins and other health-oriented products, for $280 million. Kroger said the acquisition would open up opportunities to sell its products online and compete with companies like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart. "The deal could be transformative for Kroger," said Burt Flickinger III, managing director at retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group. Kroger's online retail options are now limited to King Scoopers in Denver and 154 Harris Teeter stores, primarily in the Southeast. Its Denver model has been a small-scale work in progress that wouldn't work nationwide, the company said. 

Sport Chalet is being acquired by a company that owns Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob's Stores. Sport Chalet, with 50 stores in the U.S. western states of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, announced it was looking for potential partnerships and/or investors last year as the retailer set to expand its technological strategies. Under the agreement, Sport Chalet will keep its stores open and keep its name. Sport Chalet CEO Craig Levra will continue to manage the business out of Los Angeles, the companies said.

Barnes & Noble on Wednesday disclosed plans to split its retail and Nook units into two separate public companies, as the bookseller looks to breathe new life into its e-reader business. Barnes & Noble said it will begin to take steps to complete the separation by the end of the first quarter of

Etsy acquired a leading marketplace for handmade goods in France, its sixth acquisition. A Little Market boasts 88,000 designers, 620,000 members and over 1.9 million creations, with 3.3 million monthly visits and 31 million page views per month, according to the most recent statistics published on its website. An Etsy spokesperson told EcommerceBytes the two marketplaces will remain independent. France is Etsy's strongest non-English market, she said, but Etsy's business in France is more than 90 percent import/export. "A Little Market is a strategically complementary business, focused almost entirely on domestic trade."

Activist investor Carl Icahn said Thursday that he wants to see Family Dollar sold at once, and he told the retailer that he's prepared to seek shareholder support to fire the entire board of directors if he doesn't get his way. Icahn said in a letter to Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine that he wants three seats on the board of directors, which would comprise a new committee tasked with exploring a sale of the company. The letter said Icahn discussed Family Dollar over dinner with Levine on Wednesday night. The two didn't come to any agreement.

Struggling e-commerce site Fab has gone shopping. The once high-flying company, which has recently suffered a series of pitfalls including a round of layoffs last month, announced Wednesday that it's buying One Nordic Furniture Co., a retailer known as the "luxury Ikea" with operations in Finland and Sweden. The deal is the next step in chief executive Jason Goldberg's strategy to design, market and sell private-label goods rather than rely on the products of other brands. 

Wal-Mart has acquired Stylr, the 13th tech move in three years as the retailer works to build infrastructure to support the next generation of retail. The deal was announced on Monday. "As we continue to integrate digital and physical retail to create new and unique experiences for customers, we're thrilled to add Stylr to our mobile team. Over half of Wal-Mart smartphone users have used their device in-store to assist with their shopping, and with 80 percent of our customers under the age of 35 owning a smartphone, we expect this to grow dramatically."