Mergers & Acquisitions

"Guys hate shopping," said Brian Spaly, the chief executive of Trunk Club, a shopping website for men, "but love to look good." As retailers have come up with new ways to target men, Nordstrom has been riding the wave. It plans to announce on Thursday that it's agreed to purchase Trunk Club, a five-year old website that sells about 100 brands of men's apparel, for an undisclosed amount. It's the latest sign that men aren't the only ones taking their sartorial habits seriously. 

The merging of retail and technology has led to the two sides poaching each other's talent. This commonly leads to companies gobbling up entire startups, as was demonstrated yesterday by Wal-Mart's tech team, @WalmartLabs, acquiring Luvocracy, a three-year-old firm and an online community of half-a-million members that allows consumers to discover and buy products recommended by other people, from their own friends and family to bloggers and other influencers. Sixteen Luvocracy employees are slated to join @WalmartLabs as part of the acquisition. Company spokesman Bao Nguyen told MarketWatch that Wal-Mart doesn't plan to integrate Luvocracy's technology into Walmart.com.

Dollar Tree is buying competitor Family Dollar in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $8.5 billion. The boards of both companies unanimously approved the merger, announced Monday. The transaction is valued at $74.50 a share. Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser called the deal a "transformational opportunity." "This acquisition will extend our reach to lower-income customers and strengthen and diversify our store footprint," he said. Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine will report to Sasser. Levine's company will continue to operate under the Family Dollar name. The combined company will have more than 13,000 stores and $18 billion in sales.

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."