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A day after Groupon offered $20 off of $40 worth of flowers and gifts from FTD, users are calling the deal a scam.
The coupon, which nearly 3,300 people bought, directed buyers to a special FTD website — FTD.com/groupon — to take advantage of the offer. The problem, users said, was that prices were higher than on the regular website, effectively diminishing the value of the deal. Get the full story »
Bookseller Borders Group Inc. could file for bankruptcy as soon as Monday or Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Get the full story »
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Chicago-based daily deal site Groupon said on Thursday Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Howard Schultz has joined its board of directors and that his venture capital firm has taken a stake in the daily deals website.
Schultz’ firm, Maveron, previously invested in retailers such as zulily, which offers daily deals on clothing geared to mothers and their children, and the lucy activewear chain, which was sold to VF Corp in 2007.
Groupon reportedly got a $6 billion takeover bid from Google in November, which it turned down. Two-year-old Groupon recently completed a $950 million round of financing. Get the full story »
Blockbuster Inc., which filed for bankruptcy last year, is preparing to put itself up for sale after creditors disagreed on plans to give the chain more cash, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. Get the full story »
CardStar Inc., a company that makes a popular mobile application to organize store loyalty cards, is now including daily deals service Groupon in its app.
Boston-based CardStar said it is the first mobile loyalty app to integrate with Groupon. CardStar launched its app for the iPhone in January 2009 and has 1.3 million users. The CardStar app uses the GPS technology built into mobile phones to identify a user’s location and display Groupon deals for that area. Users will need a Groupon account to buy the deals. Get the full story »
Crate and Barrel will open more than 20 Marimekko shops within its U.S. and Canadian stores over the next three years, the home furnishings retailers said Friday.
The rollout will begin with its stores in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Crate and Barrel opened its first Marimekko store-within-a-store in its SoHo location in New York in October and it has been well received, Barbara Turf, Crate and Barrel’s chief executive, said in a statement. Get the full story »
From TechCrunch | SharesPost, a marketplace for private stock sales, released a report Thursday stating that Chicago-based daily deal site Groupon is worth about $6 billion (between $5.95 billion and $6.07 billion, to be exact).
Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.’s quarterly results beat market expectations, as consumers continued to prefer doing their own make-up at home instead of heading to salons during the holiday season, lifting its shares over 16 percent. Get the full story »
January sales at major U.S. retailers blew past analysts’ expectations as shoppers braved snowstorms in an unexpected sign of consumer strength.
Some retailers, including Limited Brands Inc., Gap Inc., Aeropostale Inc. and TJX Cos., also raised their profit estimates for the holiday quarter, cheering investors worried about rising costs of cotton and other commodities. The Standard & Poor’s Retail index rose 1.1 percent. Get the full story »
Walgreens said its same-store in January increased 6.1 percent, led by a 6.9 percent rise in same-store pharmacy sales. Pharmacy sales accounted for two-thirds of Walgreen’s total sales of $5.93 billion in January. Get the full story »
Click here for photos of the 2011 Chicago blizzard
One of the biggest snowstorms in Chicago history has paralyzed businesses across the region.
The blizzard, which dumped more than 20 inches of snow on the Chicago area Tuesday night and Wednesday, will have a significant economic impact, as banks, retailers and other companies that rely on face-to-face contact with their customers were closed Wednesday or struggling to open.
DOWNTOWN
Downtown businesses were mostly abandoned Wednesday morning.
One of the only lights emanating from the Thompson Center came from the Dunkin’ Donuts. The newsstand, the salon, the nail parlor, which usually bustle with commuters from the Clark/Lake stop, were closed and darkened. Get the full story »
Sears Holdings Corp. has named company executive Scott Freidheim executive vice president and president for Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard — key brands for the retailer. The move comes after several other key personnel announcements at Hoffman Estates-based Sears, including a new chief of home fashions and another for grocery and pharmacy. Get the full story »
Impatient over the slow pace of its sales recovery, Gap Inc. said the head of Gap North America will step down, as the apparel brand tries to reinvigorate its merchandise and flagging stock price.
Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America since 2007, is leaving Feb. 4, and will be replaced by an insider to be named soon, Gap said Tuesday. Get the full story »
Walgreens said it will allocate $100 million over the next four years to providing medical tests and preventive medical services as the Deerfield-based pharmacy giant continues to establish itself as a national provider of health care. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart Stores named a longtime grocery executive as the chief merchandising officer for its U.S. discount stores Friday, filling the post that had been vacant since John Fleming left the role last year. Get the full story »
