Mergers & Acquisitions

Aaron’s has formed a partnership with Buxton, a customer analytics firm, to assist with the retailer’s market expansion and analytics strategy. “Our partnership with Buxton gives Aaron’s the capability to define optimal custom territories and identify the trade areas and markets where expansion would be the most profitable for us,” said Josh Newman, senior director of real estate for Aaron’s.

Flash-sale site ideeli is launching plus-size and petite sample sales, with new brands launching every Wednesday. “Many designers cap their collections at size 10, yet there is clearly demand for contemporary styles in fuller-figured sizes," Mary Harmon group vice president at ideeli, said in a statement.

Anthropologie and the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance announced a joint initiative in all 153 Anthropologie stores in the U.S. and U.K. to increase awareness and promote the preservation of Mediterranean cork forests, one of the planet’s most important ecosystems.

Sony recently opened its first Sony Store in California, which will lead into a phased-in replacement of the current Sony Style concept. The change has also included shuttering of older Sony Style stores, the company said.

Sony Electronics has announced the opening of its first newly branded store in the U.S., which offers a new concept, design and customer experience. It will open its doors to the public today in the Westfield Century City shopping mall in Los Angeles.

Accessory products and slipper marketer R.G. Barry Corporation finalized its purchase of the principal assets of Portland, Ore.-based handbag and travel accessories marketer baggallini.

Charming Shoppes said it would close 240 unprofitable stores in 2011, or nearly 12 percent of its total outlets. More than half of those closures would be Fashion Bug stores. The locations were not disclosed.

GameStop, the world’s largest retailer of video games with 6,670 stores in 17 countries, is hedging its bets when it comes to digital distribution. The company announced it would acquire Spawn Labs and Impulse to bolster its ability sell games online. The purchase prices were not disclosed.

At a time momentum is building to allow foreign players into front-end retail, senior officials of the Future Group and Wal-Mart have met at least five times in the past four months, raising the possibility of an alliance between India's largest retailer and the world's largest retailer. If the alliance fructifies, it could reconfigure organized retail in India.

Wal-Mart announced that it will reopen 12 of its Seiyu stores in Japan, which were affected by the earthquake. A company spokesman added that the retailer is hoping to open the remaining 12 impacted stores as soon as possible.