Create an engaging experience, and they will come. That’s the lesson learned by Munchkin, an award-winning manufacturer of baby products, as it recently launched its new direct-to-consumer webstore built on eBay Inc.’s Magento platform. Munchkin’s thriving webstore also uses PayPal for payments, and the company has just tapped eBay Enterprise’s Marketing Solutions for demand generation.

Like many branded manufacturers, Munchkin’s original site’s goal was to offer product and retail partner information and not for processing orders.

In mid-2013, Munchkin decided that it was time to extend its well-known product innovations to its own site. Munchkin partnered with commerce solutions provider Gorilla Group to develop a new ecommerce-optimized website on Magento Enterprise Edition.

The site launch was timed to coincide with the debut of the company’s new, web-exclusive line of luxury baby apparel, mbaby. Using responsive design, the new site is tailored to the needs of parents on the go and is optimized for shopping across any device or screen size. It also features rich product imagery, unique gifting ideas and a seamless checkout process.

Since the January launch, Munchkin has experienced substantial growth in sales and site visits, specifically:

37% increase in visits
122% increase in total units sold
55% increase in units per order
112% increase in average order value
201% increase in daily revenue

Munchkin’s experience illustrates how Magento’s flexibility can empower merchants to more effectively engage customers online and also create a separate branded experience in the same site.

Gorilla reflects on Munchkin’s ecommerce journey on Magento and where ecommerce fits in its overall strategy: “Positioning the ecommerce channel as the focal point for a multi-channel customer experience, we were able to achieve multiple goals. By incorporating direct ecommerce capabilities alongside web retail partner and store locator functionality, we were able to create a cross-channel selling environment that minimizes partner conflict.”

“Tapping into the flexibility of the Magento Enterprise Edition for Munchkin’s direct-to-consumer web store helped facilitate a multichannel customer experience and is helping to establish Munchkin.com as the go-to consumer destination for Munchkin product research, content and new discovery. We are now activating campaigns offered through eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions,” said Jonathan Bradbury, director of global ecommerce, Munchkin. “The ability to add new commerce solutions across the portfolio, as our business grows, is a great testament to the scalability offered by Magento and eBay Enterprise.”

Following its successful experience with the new website, Munchkin is activating a campaign using search, display, attribution and affiliate solutions offered through eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions. This is just one example of how eBay Inc. serves SMBs by giving retailers the option to add new commerce technologies from across their portfolio as their businesses grow.

This is courtesy of www.ebay.com

eBay Israel has entered into a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the Israeli Diamond Exchange aimed at expanding the country’s global diamond trade and boosting the online role of sellers of the gems. More than 450 merchants, all Diamond Exchange members, recently attended the announcement of the unique arrangement at the Exchange Center near Tel Aviv.

Under the collaboration, members of the world’s largest diamond exchange will receive training and support to set up online stores on eBay. They must also meet strict product and service quality assurance criteria, and have necessary certification and references.

Israel’s export sales of the gems are on the rise with polished diamond exports totalling nearly $6.3 billion USD in 2014, a rise of 0.6 percent over the previous year. With sales of engagement rings on eBay witnessing exceptional year-on-year growth, this new alliance seeks to build on that momentum.

Shmuel Schnitzer, President of the Israel Diamond Exchange, believes the partnership will further benefit many of the Exchange’s 3,500 members through exposure to new international shoppers. “They’ll also be able to promote Israeli diamonds, which have gained a worldwide reputation for quality,” he said.

Elad Goldenberg, Head of Business Development for eBay Israel, agrees. “This collaboration with the Israel Diamond Exchange will open up possibilities for accredited diamond sellers to reach greater audiences and markets,” he said.

LONDON, April 1, 2021 — Enjoy Technology Inc. (“Enjoy”), a technology-powered platform reinventing “Commerce at Home,” announced today that BT Group, the company’s exclusive U.K. partner through the BT and EE brands, has extended their partnership through 2025. BT has also made an investment in Enjoy, strengthening the partnership and demonstrating BT’s continued commitment to providing the most personal and local service in the industry.

Enjoy is a technology company that is reinventing “Commerce at Home” by partnering with the world’s premium consumer brands to provide a personalised, high-touch retail experience in the comfort of home. Co-founded by Apple retail strategist, Ron Johnson, Enjoy has pioneered a new retail experience that brings EE’s in-store experience and trusted support through Enjoy’s full-time, trained Experts directly to a customer’s home.

Enjoy’s partnership with BT Group began in 2018 and today covers nearly 80% of the U.K. population. Enjoy employs more than 600 people in the U.K. with facilities in more than 20 cities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“Our work with BT Group has been instrumental in bringing Enjoy’s ‘Commerce at Home’ experience through the door and into the homes of more customers across the U.K.,” said Ron Johnson, CEO and Co-Founder of Enjoy. “BT continues to be an amazing partner and together we reach nearly 80% of the U.K. population. We are pleased to extend our exclusive partnership as we provide a world-class experience for customers and their new BT and EE products and services.”

Marc Allera, CEO, BT’s Consumer division, said, “The value of our partnership with Enjoy is clearer than ever. Over the past year, we’ve been able to continue to offer the most personal and local service in the U.K. despite the closure of our stores during lockdown. We’re showing our commitment to providing the best multi-channel service in the industry by extending our partnership for a further four years and investing to be a part of this mobile retail technology offer.”

BT has created the best and widest customer service network in the U.K., with expert teams providing support in local contact centres, on the high street in over more than 600 stores across the U.K., and in customers’ homes through its partnership with Enjoy. BT customers can also get expert, easy to access help 24/7 through the My BT App.

To learn more about Enjoy visit www.enjoy.com and to learn more about BT visit www.bt.com.

About Enjoy:
Enjoy is a technology-powered platform reinventing “Commerce at Home” by providing a personalised, high-touch retail experience in the comfort of home. Enjoy partners with some of the world’s premium consumer brands to deliver the products their customers love, when and where they want them. Co-founded by Apple retail strategist, Ron Johnson, Enjoy has pioneered a new retail experience that can do everything a traditional retail experience offers through its Mobile Store. Enjoy has served millions of customers, changing how they have experienced purchasing new products and currently operates in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA Enjoy has raised more than $350 million, and has become the leader in the re-emergence of “Commerce at Home.” To learn more about Enjoy, please visit: www.enjoy.com.

About BT Group:
BT Group is the UK’s leading telecommunications and network provider and a leading provider of global communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities in the UK include the provision of fixed voice, mobile, broadband and TV (including Sport) and a range of products and services over converged fixed and mobile networks to consumer, business and public sector customers. For its global customers, BT provides managed services, security and network and IT infrastructure services to support their operations all over the world. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Openreach, which provides access network services to over 650 communications provider customers who sell phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses across the UK. For the year ended 31 March 2020, BT Group’s reported revenue was £22,905m with reported profit before taxation of £2,353m. British Telecommunications plc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.bt.com/about.

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, today announced it has reached a settlement in cases involving Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, Merrill Lynch, and certain named individuals totaling approximately $5.83 billion. Bank of America Corporation owns Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. The cases alleged violations of federal and state securities laws in connection with
private-label, residential mortgage-backed securities (PLS) purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 2005 and 2007. Allegations of common law fraud were made in the Countrywide and Merrill Lynch cases.

The Agreement provides for an aggregate payment of approximately $9.33 billion by Bank of America that includes the litigation resolution as well as a purchase of securities by Bank of America from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“FHFA has acted under its statutory mandate to recover losses incurred by the companies and American taxpayers and has concluded that this resolution represents a reasonable and prudent settlement of these cases. This settlement also represents an important step in helping restore stability to our broader mortgage market and moving to bring back the role of private firms in providing mortgage credit. Many potential homeowners will benefit from increasing certainty in the marketplace and that is very much the direction we should be taking,” said FHFA Director Melvin L. Watt.

This news is courtesy of www.fhfa.gov

Supermarket operators Albertsons and Safeway Inc. have agreed to sell 168 supermarkets to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their proposed $9.2 billion merger would likely be anticompetitive in 130 local markets in Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Albertsons and Safeway compete vigorously on the bases of price, quality, product variety, and services, and offer consumers the convenience of one-stop shopping for food and other grocery products. Without a remedy, according to the FTC, the acquisition will lessen supermarket competition to the detriment of consumers in 130 local markets.

“Consumers everywhere rely on local supermarkets for their weekly shopping needs,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “Absent a remedy, this acquisition would likely lead to higher prices and lower quality for supermarket shoppers in 130 communities. This settlement will ensure that consumers in those communities continue to benefit from competition among their local supermarkets.”

At the time the proposed acquisition was announced, Albertson’s LLC operated 630 supermarkets under the Albertsons banner in 15 states, and under the Market Street, Amigos, and United Supermarkets banners in Texas. New Albertson’s, Inc., operated 445 supermarkets under the Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw’s, and Star Market banners, in the eastern United States. Safeway operated 1,332 supermarkets under the Safeway, Tom Thumb, Randall’s, Pak ’n Save, The Market, Vons, Pavilions, and Genuardi’s banners located throughout the country.

Under the proposed settlement, Haggen Holdings, LLC will acquire 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores located in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington; Supervalu Inc. will acquire two Albertsons stores in Washington; Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. will acquire 12 Albertsons and Safeway stores in Texas; and Associated Food Stores Inc. will acquire eight Albertsons and Safeway stores in Montana and Wyoming. It is expected that Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. will assign its operating rights in the 12 Texas stores it is acquiring to RLS Supermarkets, LLC (doing business as Minyard Food Stores) and that Associated Food Stores Inc. will assign its rights in the eight Montana and Wyoming stores it is acquiring to Missoula Fresh Market LLC, Ridley’s Family Markets, Inc., and Stokes Inc.

Also under the proposed settlement, the divestitures to Haggen must be completed within 150 days of the date of the merger; the divestitures to Supervalu Inc. must be completed within 100 days of the date of the merger; and the divestitures to Associated Food Stores Inc. and Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. must be completed within 60 days of the date of the merger.

The proposed settlement includes an Order to Maintain Assets, to help ensure that Albertsons maintains the stores until they are divested. The proposed settlement also appoints a monitor to oversee the merging parties’ compliance with their obligations under the settlement agreement. Details about the divestitures, including a list of stores and the local markets affected, are set forth in the analysis to aid public comment for this matter.

The Commission vote to issue the complaint and accept the proposed consent order for public comment was 5-0. The FTC will publish the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through February 26, 2015, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Comments can be filed electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the “Supplementary Information” section of the Federal Register notice.

NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000 per day.

The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with the Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission take law enforcement action. To inform the Bureau about particular business practices, call 202-326-3300, send an e-mail to antitrust{at}ftc{dot}gov, or write to the Office of Policy and Coordination, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room CC-5422, Washington, DC 20580. To learn more about the Bureau of Competition, read Competition Counts. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

SAN FRANCISCO – February 28, 2019 – Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) today announced plans to create two independent publicly traded companies: Old Navy, a category-leader in family apparel, and a yet-to-benamed company (“NewCo”), which will consist of the iconic Gap brand, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix and Hill City. Gap Inc. expects to effect the separation through a spin-off that is intended to generally be tax-free to Gap Inc.’s shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The spin-off will enable each company to maximize focus and flexibility, align investments and incentives to meet its unique business needs and optimize its cost structure to deliver profitable growth.

“Following a comprehensive review by the Gap Inc. Board of Directors, it’s clear that Old Navy’s business model and customers have increasingly diverged from our specialty brands over time, and each company now requires a different strategy to thrive moving forward,” said Robert Fisher, Gap Inc.’s Board Chairman. “Recognizing that, we determined that pursuing a separation is the most compelling path forward for our brands – creating two separate companies with distinct financial profiles, tailored operating priorities and unique capital allocation strategies, both well positioned to achieve their strategic goals and create significant value for our customers, employees and shareholders.”

Art Peck, President and CEO of Gap Inc., added, “We have made significant progress executing on our balanced growth strategy and investing in the capabilities to position our brands for growth: expanding the omni-channel customer experience, building our digital capabilities and improving operational efficiencies across the company. Today’s spin-off announcement enables us to embed those capabilities within two stand-alone companies, each with a sharpened strategic focus and tailored operating structure. As a result, both companies will be well positioned to capitalize on their respective opportunities and act decisively in an evolving retail environment.”

NewCo
NewCo, with approximately $9 billion in annual revenue and a strong balance sheet, will have a unique and differentiated portfolio, with significant opportunity to create value. The company will be well positioned to drive sustainable growth and improve profitability by leveraging its loyal and complementary customer base and an appropriately scaled operating platform with advantaged digital capabilities to deliver distinct products and experiences. With enhanced strategic and operational focus, it can deliver improved results at Gap, Banana Republic and Intermix, while capitalizing on the momentum of B-Corp certified Athleta and newly-launched Hill City. The program announced today to restructure the Gap brand specialty fleet is an important part of the plan to enhance the profitability of that channel. As a stand-alone company, NewCo also will be better positioned to continue to evolve its leadership role in sustainability and social responsibility.

Old Navy
As one of the fastest growing apparel brands in the U.S. with approximately $8 billion in annual revenue, Old Navy will be able to capitalize on its scale, broad customer awareness and unique positioning to extend its category leadership and deliver profitable growth as an independent company. Through this separation, Old Navy will have the flexibility, focus and control needed to increase customer access by further applying its strategic real estate strategy, evolving its omni-channel model and expanding its product categories to continue to successfully resonate with value-focused customers. Old Navy will be well positioned to invest in capabilities and initiatives that will continue to grow its market share.

Management
Both companies will have experienced leadership teams, well suited to lead these organizations on their separate, defined paths.

Gap Inc.’s current President and Chief Executive Officer, Art Peck, will hold the same position with NewCo after the separation. With more than a decade of retail leadership experience, Mr. Peck is well positioned to lead NewCo going forward. Over the last several years, he has led significant improvements at Gap Inc. and reinvigorated growth across several specialty brands by strengthening the supply chain and pivoting quickly to leverage technology and capitalize on new customer trends.

Following the separation, Sonia Syngal, current President and Chief Executive Officer of Old Navy, will continue to lead the brand as a standalone company. Ms. Syngal — who has led Old Navy since 2016 — has a proven track record of leading Old Navy’s transformation and driving product-to-market innovations, as well as deep experience in supply chain and manufacturing in both retail apparel and other industries.

Transaction Details
Upon separation, Gap Inc. shareholders are expected to receive a pro-rata stock distribution and as a result own shares in both NewCo and Old Navy in equal proportion. The transaction is currently targeted to be completed in 2020, and is subject to certain conditions, including final approval by Gap Inc.’s Board of Directors, receipt of a tax opinion from counsel and the filing and effectiveness of a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurances regarding the ultimate timing or terms of the separation or that the separation will be completed.

After the separation, NewCo and Old Navy are expected to be appropriately capitalized with sufficient cash to support planned operating and investment plans.

NewCo will be based in Gap Inc.’s current headquarters and Old Navy will remain at its current headquarters, both located in San Francisco.

SAN MATEO, CA – GoPro, maker of the world’s most versatile camera and facilitator of some of today’s most engaging content, has announced a large scale merchandising rollout with Best Buy, the world’s largest specialty consumer electronics retailer. The newly announced and highly anticipated HERO4 will be available in Best Buy stores and on BestBuy.com beginning Oct. 5, and will be the centerpiece of GoPro’s significantly expanded in-store footprint.

The new display rollout to 500 stores begins this week and triples GoPro’s in-store retail presence at Best Buy. This is GoPro’s biggest retail display unit and it is exclusive to BestBuy. Chief among the enhancements of GoPro’s upgraded residences are new display units designed to provide a more immersive content viewing experience for customers – a point of critical importance to adequately conveying the value of GoPro products. The new fixtures will be 6 feet tall, allowing for greater visibility for shoppers, and include larger monitors that will showcase a variety of GoPro videos, which encompass some of the world’s most widely watched user generated content as well as GoPro’s own award-winning productions.

“This expansion will provide GoPro with a significant increase in shelf space from one of our biggest retail partners in North America,” said GoPro Senior Vice President of Intergalactic Sales, Jonathan Harris. “We’re excited to offer our customers a more compelling experience at most Best Buy locations each time they interact with our products in the store.”

Additional benefits of the new locations include more camera facings and a larger accessories offering, providing Best Buy customers with greater access to the GoPro products that have enabled them to capture, share and enjoy countless hours of their amazing experiences.

“Best Buy is the destination for the best in digital imaging technology, and GoPro’s new line of cameras delivers just that for our customers,” said Marie Grable, Merchant Director of Digital Imaging at Best Buy. “This unique new display, featuring the entire line up of cameras and accessories, is a must see for consumers who are looking to get their hands on the latest from GoPro.

The new displays arrive just in time for the holiday season, when many customers will head to Best Buy to shop for friends, relatives and loved ones. GoPro has been available at Best Buy since 2010.

About GoPro, Inc. (GPRO)
GoPro, Inc. is transforming the way consumers capture, manage, share and enjoy meaningful life experiences. We do this by enabling people to capture compelling, immersive photo and video content of themselves participating in their favorite activities. Our customers include some of the world’s most active and passionate people. The volume and quality of their shared GoPro content, coupled with their enthusiasm for our brand, are virally driving awareness and demand for our products. To date, we have generated substantially all of our revenue from the sale of our cameras and accessories and we believe that the growing adoption of our capture devices and the engaging content they enable, position GoPro to become an exciting new media company.

What began as an idea to help athletes document themselves engaged in their sport has become a widely adopted solution for people to document themselves engaged in their interests, whatever they may be. From extreme to mainstream, professional to consumer, GoPro has enabled the world to capture and share its passions, and the world, in turn, is enabling GoPro to become one of the most exciting and aspirational companies of our time.

For more information, visit www.gopro.com

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.,– For Shop Your Way members and customers looking to get a head start on holiday shopping, Sears and Kmart stores will open on Thanksgiving Day.* Members and customers can shop Black Friday deals at Sears earlier than ever – starting at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Kmart, continuing a 23-year tradition as a destination for early-bird shopping and last-minute entertaining needs on Thanksgiving, will open for 42 hours straight, from 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving to midnight on Black Friday.

Holiday Hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday:

Sears: Open from 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 27 to close of business on Friday, Nov. 28

Kmart: Open from 6 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 27 to midnight on Friday, Nov. 28

“With so many integrated retail options available – from Free Store Pickup to Pay In-Store to In-Vehicle Pickup – members will enjoy more convenient ways to shop Sears and Kmart Black Friday doorbuster deals how or when they choose,” said Leena Munjal, senior vice president, Sears Holdings. “This holiday season is all about giving more to our members and because many like to start shopping well before Black Friday, we’re excited to open our doors early on Thanksgiving and offer other early access opportunities for them to shop and save. I’d also like to especially thank our seasonal associates and those who have volunteered to share part of the day serving our members on Thanksgiving.”

Other timely holiday shopping initiatives include:

Sears Family & Friends Event to Offer Early Black Friday Shopping Opportunity
On Sunday, Nov. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m., more than two weeks before Black Friday, Sears Family & Friends event will feature a selection of Black Friday deals. The select items, including apparel, appliances, tools and footwear, will be available at Black Friday pricing plus the additional 5 to 15 percent Sears Family & Friends event discount, making it one of the best savings opportunities of the holiday season. Additional Black Friday and Sears Family & Friends discount items will be available online at sears.com from Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. CT until Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. CT.

Kmart Brings Back No Money Down Layaway
After receiving an overwhelming response from Shop Your Way members, Kmart is bringing back No Money Down Layaway to help shoppers manage budgets this holiday season. Kmart No Money Down Layaway is available now through Nov. 15 both online and in-store. Shoppers can put virtually anything on layaway with no minimum purchase required. Plus, members will receive 5 percent off toys, sporting goods, jewelry and home items.

Shop Online – Ship for Free
For shoppers at sears.com or kmart.com, choosing Free Store Pickup means zero shipping costs and orders are ready in five minutes upon the customer’s arrival. Plus, earlier this year Sears and Kmart introduced a unique online/in-store collaboration to allow pick up of sears.com or kmart.com orders at any of each other’s stores – more than 1,800 locations nationwide. Sears and Kmart offer free ship-to-home this holiday season on any online purchase of $59 or more and, as always, Shop Your Way MAX members receive free two-day shipping on more than one million items.

Shop Your Way members can look forward to getting a preview of each store’s Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals at searslocalad.com or kmartlocalad.com. Plus, Sears Marketplace features endless aisles of more than 100 million items now available, making Sears one of the largest marketplaces on the web.

Follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook about Sears holiday at #MoreMerry, Kmart at #MoreChristmas, and Shop Your Way at #MembersFirst.

*Sears and Kmart stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and Puerto Rico will not be open on Thanksgiving Day, per their respective state laws. Stores in Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts will open at 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 28. Puerto Rico stores will open at midnight on Nov. 28. In addition, stores in some jurisdictions may have different hours of operation if required by local law.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading integrated retailer providing merchandise and related services and is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard — among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation’s largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.

About Kmart
Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information visit the company’s website at www.kmart.com | Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com

With growth in cross-border trade skyrocketing, eBay China VP John Lin recently weighed in in an interview on the challenge of leading in this exciting market. Here are his thoughts.

How much has the Greater China Export business grown in the last few years?
It’s been a privilege to see our export business develop from a very small operation in 2006 (generating several million dollars in GMV) to the multi-billion dollar business it is today. China currently accounts for 250 of eBay’s 1,000 biggest sellers globally, which gives you an idea of how far we’ve come.

What has made that kind of growth possible?
Back in 2006 there were lots of problems and risks associated with retail export in China, including fraud and counterfeit goods. But we saw the enormous potential and realised what could be done if we provided sellers with the right training and support to market their products globally. By introducing strict regulation, verification and monitoring of our sellers, we reinvented the world’s perception of doing business with China online.

Do you think there had been a misconception of Chinese sellers in the past?
I do think that ensuring our sellers meet our high retail and service standards has increased trust, yes, but there is still a misconception that our sellers offer value simply because they can source products cheaply. Our biggest sellers ship around 50,000 products a day to 200 countries, so these are highly complex, efficient operations. It’s all about being able to scale things up and that’s something our sellers are very good at.

How has eBay helped them achieve this?
We have a very effective account management team and are passionate about helping our sellers be profitable, encouraging them to invest and to expand into other countries. Their success is our success, so everyone, including the customers, benefits. We give them a route to market that is trusted internationally and the peace of mind of harmonized customer support. We’re also getting our sellers to move towards heavier, higher price items by helping them improve their warehousing capabilities. What few people realize is that around a third of the items they currently buy from Chinese sellers are already held in warehouses in Europe or the US, so this is already happening and I see that increasing.

Why is the Greater China Retail Export market so important to eBay?
It is a massive growth market and is destined to be the number one country for ecommerce in the coming years. Our margins are good and we currently contribute more than a fifth of the total items sold on eBay’s US site. Plus, the statistics show that a significant proportion of first-time eBay buyers make their first purchase from Greater China.

What are your hopes for the future and what challenges lie ahead?
I think we have everything we need to maintain our position as a premium operator and our plans are now to help our sellers make the shift from exporting mainly low cost, low weight products to more expensive, heavier items. In terms of challenges, when you have a winning formula, clearly your competitors will follow. One of our main rivals, Alibaba, has much smaller fees, which is giving them plenty of success, especially in exporting to emerging markets. Amazon is also increasingly active, so we need to keep progressing.

This is courtesy of www.ebay.com

SEATTLE—June 14, 2024—Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that the Amazon Books Editors have revealed the Best Books of the Year So Far, naming Percival Everett’s novel, James, as the top choice. The Amazon Books Editors call it “a wildly entertaining and thought-provoking read that cements Percival Everett as one of the best modern-day writers.” Other titles that rounded out the top five include The Women by Kristin Hannah, All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians by Phil Elwood, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, and Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.

The Amazon Books Editors are on a mission to make it easy for customers to discover great reads from among the wide selection on Amazon through curated recommendations. They collectively read thousands of books per year to determine the Best Books of the Month, the Best Books of the Year So Far, and the Best Books of the Year, while writing regularly about books and interviewing authors on the Amazon Book Review. Comprised of books published between January and June, the Best Books of the Year So Far list features their top 20 book picks, as well as recommendations in popular categories, including literary fiction, mystery and thrillers, romance, history, biographies and memoirs, cookbooks, and children’s books.

Percival Everett’s James joins previous Best of the Year So Far No. 1 picks like Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, and Educated by Tara Westover.

After being told James was the No. 1 pick, Everett said, “I’m always thrilled to hear that someone somewhere in this country is reading any book. I’m especially moved when I imagine that book might be mine. I love books. I sort of like writers. But none of this happens without readers. So, thank you.”

“Like our year-end list, the Best Books of the Year So Far is a culmination of months of passionate debate and careful consideration by our team, and features our top picks across genres,” said Sarah Gelman, editorial director, Amazon Books. “One pick that our entire team was in full agreement on was our top selection, James, which builds on the trend of re-imagining American classics. This re-telling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a must-read for any type of reader.”

Below are the top 10 picks of 2024 so far. To explore the full Best Books of the Year So Far list, visit www.amazon.com/bestbookssofar. Readers can also tune into an Amazon Live interview with Percival Everett, author of the No. 1 pick James, on June 18 at 11:30 am PDT/2:30 pm EDT.

James by Percival Everett
“With the same fiery wit, snap, and energy of his previous work, Percival Everett brings to life a retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and in so doing delivers an entirely new classic, one that is rip-roaringly American, wry, and hard-hitting. A knock-out.” — Al Woodworth, Amazon editor

The Women by Kristin Hannah
“Packing as much emotional punch as The Nightingale, The Women sings the praises of the unsung heroes of the Vietnam War—the combat nurses. It’s a story that serves as another stitch in a still open wound, one that can only help the healing process.” — Erin Kodicek, Amazon editor

All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians by Phil Elwood
“This wild, oh-my-God memoir will make your jaw drop. A public relations hit man dishes on all of his dirty deeds, and it’s not only impossible to put down, it’s impossible not to talk about—in other words, perfect summer nonfiction reading.” — Al Woodworth, Amazon editor

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
“This genre-bending novel explores humanity in all its frailty and potential, and how love can alter the course of history. It’s a fantastical novel that’s funny, riveting, heartbreaking, and unputdownable.” — Abby Abell, Amazon editor

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
“Poet Kaveh Akbar makes his dazzling fiction debut with an unforgettable main character whose voice feels shot from a cannon, and reminded us of the charismatic and undeniably addictive hero of Demon Copperhead. Martyr! is both laugh-out-loud funny and deadly serious—a coming-of-age story and a portrait of a young Iranian-American wrestling with what it means to have a life of value.” — Al Woodworth, Amazon editor

Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
“This horrifying narrative—a minute-by-minute breakdown of what happens after a nuclear missile is launched at the U.S.—is visceral and cinematic, like the big budget blockbuster of Hollywood’s dreams. Even more terrifying: it’s nonfiction, pieced together through interviews and classified documents dug up by Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Annie Jacobsen.” — Lindsay Powers, Amazon editor

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
“This extraordinary novel with a dark mystery running through it begins with a beekeeper and a pirate, and a kidnapping that changes their lives. Chris Whitaker’s vivid storytelling makes the pages fly by in a tale of family, survival, devotion, and love so powerful it hurts.” — Seira Wilson, Amazon editor

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
“Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians) once again delights and entertains us with a couture-studded, globe-trotting tale of family, legacy, and finding our own happiness. A surprising confession overheard at an over-the-top island wedding is just the first of many secrets spilled, hearts broken, and plans foiled, in this hilarious rom-com of wealth, prestige, shocking twists, and silver linings.” — Seira Wilson, Amazon editor

Lost Man’s Lane by Scott Carson
“Lost Man’s Lane is a horror-tinged coming-of-age tale: sublime and sharp, poignant, nostalgic, and unsettling, even funny when it needs to be. Carson’s portrait of a teenage boy is spookily spot-on, as is the way he takes the novel terrifyingly sideways.” — Vannessa Cronin, Amazon editor

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
“This book is so multi-dimensional, just as life is—Kennedy Ryan covers divorce, self-discovery, autism, raising kids, the power of friendships, and other huge life changes, but it is done in a way that is so real and relatable.” — Kami Tei, Amazon editor

About Amazon Books Editors
The Amazon Books Editors are a group of literary experts with extensive experience spanning publishing, journalism, and communications. They read thousands of books every year across genres to help customers discover their next favorite read, and put together Best Books of the Month, Best Books of the Year So Far, and Best Books of the Year lists on Amazon. To read Editor reviews, discover recommendations of new books in popular categories, and explore author interviews, visit the Amazon Book Review. You can also follow the Amazon Books Editors’ recommendations and conversations @amazonbooks on Facebook and Instagram.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Kmart announced today the launch of two rewards programs offering FREECASH in points to current members and non-members in search of great deals on toys, games and baby products. Kmart is offering $10 FREECASH in points through the seamless in-store exchange of Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us gift cards at Kmart locations nationwide. In addition, through its Toy of the Month program, Kmart is providing shoppers with $5 FREECASH in points toward the in-store purchase of any $5 or more item in the toys department.

“Kmart has long been a family shopping destination for expecting and current parents,” said Leena Munjal, chief digital officer for Sears Holdings Corporation. “We’re adding more excitement to shopping and giving more savings back to our members by offering incentives to shop easily and conveniently for popular children’s items. This is another example of how we’re putting our members first – finding creative offers that deliver real value in their everyday lives.”

Toys “R” Us Gift Card Exchange Program
Now through July 31, if any Shop Your Way® member has a Toys “R” Us or Babies “R” Us gift card, they can simply visit the customer service desk at their nearby Kmart to register for the exchange program. They’ll receive a link to fill out a brief survey and, after completing the survey, Kmart will issue $10 FREECASH in points to the member’s Shop Your Way account for use on any in-store purchase of $10 or more*. It does not matter if the Toys “R” Us or Babies “R” Us gift card has expired; Kmart will accept them after the April 21, 2018 expiration date. Kmart will reward members with a one-time-only offer of $10 FREECASH in points, regardless of the number of gift cards exchanged or the previous value on the card(s).

Toy of the Month Program
To apply, Shop Your Way members simply text “TOY” to 56278**. Shoppers will receive $5 FREECASH in points on the 15th of every the month, and points are valid through the 28th of the month. Savings can go toward a toy department purchase of $5 or more at Kmart stores or online at Kmart.com. Members also will receive ongoing updates via text message on the retailer’s special deals, promotional events and product launches for baby items, toys and games.

Limited-Time Baby Diapers and Wipes Promotion
Additionally, shoppers can earn 50 percent CASHBACK in points on all diapers, wipes and training pants purchases from participating Kmart stores nationwide. Offer is valid now through June 2. There is a maximum of $20 CASHBACK in points per member. Members earn points the next day after a purchase, and points are valid for only 14 days from the purchase date. Members can visit their local Kmart for more details and confirm if the store is eligible for this limited time program.

*By accepting Shop Your Way member benefits and offers, you agree to the Shop Your Way terms and conditions, available at www.shopyourway.com/terms.

**By texting the keyword, you agree to receive recurring autodialed messages from Kmart alerts to your mobile number and also agree to the program terms and privacy policy at www.shcterms.com/mobile. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Text HELP for info. Consent is not a condition of any purchase.

About Kmart
Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information, visit the company’s website at kmart.com | Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com | Facebook: facebook.com/kmart | Twitter: twitter.com/kmart | Instagram: Instagram.com/kmart

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart Pharmacy today announced that it is partnering with ScriptDrop to introduce a service to provide home delivery of prescriptions within a 10-mile radius of the pharmacy, Monday through Friday.

“The need for prescription delivery has never been greater,” said Jennifer Speares Lehman, registered pharmacist and Divisional Vice President for Kmart Pharmacy. “Vulnerable patients need a way to get their essential medications without leaving home, as all Americans have been cautioned to continue social distancing for the time being.”

With ScriptDrop’s service, Kmart Pharmacy customers can remain safe at home while continuing to receive the medications they need to maintain their health. In addition, all deliveries will be contact-free for the near future. Prescriptions will be dropped off at the patient’s door, and patients will not need to sign for the delivery.

“Our first priority is the health of our members, so we’re pleased to be able to provide customers with their necessary prescriptions without the added risk of having to leave their homes,” Speares Lehman said. “Our collaboration with ScriptDrop marks the start of a new era for Kmart Pharmacy, with regards to both convenience and health.”

“We’re pleased to team up with Kmart Pharmacy to enable same-day delivery for its customers,” ScriptDrop CEO Amanda Epp said. “It’s important to increase prescription access for vulnerable patients right now.”

Taking advantage of the ScriptDrop service at Kmart Pharmacy is easy for customers. Here’s how it works:

Customer will receive a “Ready for Pickup” text message once their prescription is ready, indicating a delivery option with a link to follow.
Customer will confirm delivery information and pay the $8 delivery fee*.
Same Day delivery is available for customers within 10 miles and Next Day delivery is available up to 150 miles.
If the customer requests delivery before 11 a.m., they will receive their prescription the same day, after 2 p.m. If the request comes after 11 a.m., they will receive their prescription the next business day. Orders placed after 11 a.m. on Friday will be delivered on Monday.
*The fee may vary depending on your pharmacy location.

Patients and pharmacists can learn more about ScriptDrop by visiting https://scriptdrop.co/.

About Kmart
Kmart is a leading integrated retailer offering quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer and Route 66. Kmart is part of Shop Your Way, a rewards shopping platform where members can earn points and receive benefits both in stores and online. Kmart is also home to Kmart Pharmacy, which features best-in-class patient care for its members and customers. Kmart is a proud corporate partner of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For more information, visit the Kmart website at www.kmart.com.

About ScriptDrop
ScriptDrop’s team of healthcare experts has revolutionized prescription delivery by seamlessly connecting pharmacies and patients to a network of trained, professional couriers & delivery drivers through their proprietary technology. Established in 2017, ScriptDrop partners with pharmacies, health systems and couriers to ensure patients get their needed medication as safely and efficiently as possible. With delivery options across all 50 states, ScriptDrop is the first prescription delivery that provides two avenues for patients to get their prescriptions, including a pharmacy-initiated and patient-initiated solution, which covers all bases when working to reduce abandonment and improve outcomes. ScriptDrop is based in Columbus, Ohio with a mission to help one billion patients, one prescription at a time.

Last week, our hallways and buildings saw hundreds of new smiling faces as we welcomed our 2024 intern class. I had a chance to spend some time with our corporate interns and am inspired by their ambition and appetite to learn and impact the future of retail.

We have nearly 600 interns representing 46 states and more than 250 universities nationwide across our corporate headquarters, stores, and e-fulfillment and distribution centers. Students get unique business exposure in a number of disciplines including merchandising, inventory, art, design, production, sourcing, technology, real estate, finance, HR, marketing, legal, risk management, store operations, leadership management, and more – truly showcasing the breadth of opportunity a career in retail can provide.

Kohl’s internship program has been around for more than 20 years and offers hands-on business experience. Each intern has a coach and a mentor for the summer, they have opportunities to hear from our executive team in a leadership speaker series, and they participate in development sessions, think tanks, and volunteer projects – all encouraging these students to embrace their internship and prepare them for a future career. In some departments, interns are rotated throughout their summer to expose them to several unique job duties and roles, and in the last few weeks of their internship, interns showcase what they’ve learned by leading store walks, presenting final projects, or even providing oversight to a department within a distribution or e-fulfillment center.
To top it off, interns are paid, get to use our associate discount, and have opportunities for future growth.

From Interns To Associates – Investing in Fulfilling Careers
We see our internship program as an important talent pipeline, and I am proud of the fact that more than 1,000 of our current associates started as interns. Edward Bonilla and Janell Wise recently shared their internship experiences, giving insight into what they learned and what they would tell today’s interns.

Edward was a student at the University of California—Riverside when he accepted a Kohl’s internship in the summer of 2012 and was exposed to hands-on experience that inspired his career journey. After graduation, Edward was hired as an assistant store manager, and today he’s the store manager at Kohl’s in Riverside, Calif. “As a sports-minded individual, I think of it as becoming a head coach and you get to see how your team performs. You can track your successes daily and adjust as necessary as you would when you play a game,” said Edward. “In my internship, I was part of the executive team and learned how to manage the store business and day-to-day operations. I was able to help impact service and sales by working in a department making merchandising decisions.”

Janell was a store intern in the summer of 2005. Through her internship, she gained exposure to retail’s numerous career possibilities. She has worked in stores, technology, HR, and now serves as vice president of supply chain.

“I would tell future interns to make the most of your internship. It’s not just about the work we get done, but the relationships we build along the way,” Janell added. “Kohl’s really invests in the internship experience, ensuring that everyone has exposure to key leaders in the company, meaningful projects and such great opportunities to build your network. The store internship really connected me to the roots of what we are here to do – serve our customers, community and associates.”

Janell and Edward are just two individuals who have utilized an open door and created an opportunity to develop. #BestSummerEver Kohl’s interns have a front-row view of the retail world, but they’re also asked to contribute—conducting research, building out projects and pitching ideas that often come to fruition. With summer underway and a full agenda for our interns, I am excited to see the impact these young minds will have on our business. The future of retail is bright, and interns are already full speed ahead as they learn and grow while contributing to our company’s performance, culture, diversity, and values. I’m looking forward to the #BestSummerEver alongside these inspiring students.

Mari Steinmetz

CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen provided his outlook on the future of retail at the NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show in New York City during a dynamic keynote presentation themed Restocking the future: Kroger’s insatiable appetite to play and win the long game. CNBC “Squawk on the Street” and “Closing Bell” Anchor Sara Eisen moderated the 30-minute conversation on Sunday.

Kroger Co. Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen delivers a keynote presentation moderated by CNBC Anchor Sara Eisen in New York City at NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show.

Here are Mr. McMullen’s five predictions for the future of retail. You can view the full-length keynote presentation here.

Retail Won’t Go Away
The industry experiences disruption and transformation every few years, but it’s happening at a more rapid speed than ever before. Leaders in the industry must be willing to not only accept and react to change, but also transform their growth model.
Retail Will be Digital and Physical
Technology and digital are already mainstays of today’s retail; however, in the future of retail, customers will not spend meaningful time thinking about physical vs. digital. Customers will always choose the shopping modality – whether physical or digital – that will deliver anything, anytime and anywhere.
Retail will Offer New Solutions to Customers
Retailers will create solutions on customers’ terms. That is why Kroger is building an ecosystem that offers a variety of modalities, including brick and mortar, delivery, pick up and ship.
Retail will be Purpose-Driven
Retail will solve problems not only for customers, but also for communities and the planet. Stakeholders are increasingly deciding which businesses to support based on shared values and clarity of purpose. Because of Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste commitments by 2025, the company decided to phase out use-once, throw-it-away plastic bags and transition to reusable bags in its stores on the same timeline.
Retail will Disrupt the Ad Industry
Advertisers spend $100 billion annually today, and retailers are uniquely positioned to know how customers behave and react to those marketing messages. That is why Kroger introduced Kroger Precision Marketing, powered by 84.51°. Kroger Precision Marketing provides consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers the ability to reach Kroger’s more than 60 million customers through its ecosystem more precisely with measurable results.
While on stage, Mr. McMullen also emphasized Kroger’s Our Brands portfolio, which continues to perform exceptionally well with customers and is one of the most profitable parts of its supermarket business. Kroger recognizes there is an appetite for its Our Brands products like Simple Truth® in markets where the retailer doesn’t have a physical footprint, illustrations include its relationships with Alibaba and Walgreens. Six years ago, Simple Truth didn’t exist, and it’s now the largest natural and organic brand in the country, topping more than $2 billion in sales annually. The retailer’s latest Simple Truth television commercial is now airing in major U.S. media markets.

Mr. McMullen also discussed how the company is at the forefront of shaping the national discussion around the disparity between food waste and hunger in America through Zero Hunger | Zero Waste, Kroger’s ambitious social impact plan designed to end hunger in its communities and to eliminate waste across the entire company by 2025. He acknowledged achieving Zero Hunger | Zero Waste requires partnerships, creative ideas and scalable solutions to help change the food system. He announced Kroger has established a public charity to encourage this kind of innovative thinking. In February, the retailer will issue its inaugural open call and will award up $1 million to for-profit and non-profit innovators developing solutions for food waste prevention to test and scale solutions.

NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show is a three-day retail event that attracts more than 35,000 attendees. Its 2019 focus is traditional retailers that need non-traditional solutions, online sellers that need a physical presence, and tech start-ups that need scale. With three full-day workshops and 50 exhibitor sessions, it’s the largest retail conference in the world.

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit™. We are nearly half a million associates who serve over nine million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

CINCINNATI, May 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced that certain associates within the Fred Meyer and QFC divisions have ratified an agreement with four local unions for the transfer of liabilities from the Sound Retirement Trust to the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan. This new arrangement will help secure the pension benefits of more than 10,600 Kroger Family of Companies’ associates and is expected to minimize the organization’s exposure to market risk going forward while also reducing administrative costs.

“I am delighted we have reached an agreement to address the underfunding of the Sound Retirement Trust, which is ineligible for relief under the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021. This agreement is a great outcome for our associates as it better protects previously earned benefits and will stabilize future benefits,” said Gary Millerchip, Kroger’s CFO.

“As with previously announced pension restructuring agreements, this agreement allows us to minimize future exposure to market risk, produces a return on investment above our internal hurdle rate by mitigating future costs and provides a more secure future for our associates’ pension benefits. The proactive steps Kroger has taken over many years to address the significant underfunding challenges faced by multi-employer pension plans, puts us in a position of strength to continue to deliver strong and sustainable total shareholder return,” continued Millerchip.

This agreement has been approved by the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Sound Retirement Trust, and the local unions. As a result, Kroger will transfer approximately $400 million in net accrued pension liabilities, on a pre-tax basis, to fulfill obligations for past service for associates and retirees from the Sound Retirement Trust to the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan. On an after-tax basis, approximately $310 million would be needed to execute this transaction. This agreement will be satisfied by installment payments to the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan and is expected to be paid evenly over the next six years. Benefits for future service for these associates are expected to accrue in a newly created variable annuity pension plan administered by the Sound Retirement Trust.

As a result of this agreement, the organization will incur a charge to net earnings during the first quarter of 2021. The charge to net earnings is estimated to be approximately $0.40 per diluted share on a GAAP basis. This does not affect adjusted earnings per diluted share results for 2021, which are provided on a basis that excludes adjustment items such as this contribution.

Capital Allocation Strategy
The organization continues to generate strong free cash flow and remains committed to investing in the business to drive long-term sustainable earnings growth, maintaining its current investment grade debt rating, and returning excess free cash flow to shareholders via share repurchase and a growing dividend over time.

About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit™. We are, across our family of companies nearly half a million associates who serve over nine million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) and Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI) announced today that they have amended their definitive agreement with C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC (C&S) for the sale of assets in connection with their proposed merger previously announced on October 14, 2022. This amended package modifies and builds on the initial divestiture package that was announced on September 8, 2023.

The amended divestiture package responds to concerns raised by federal and state antitrust regulators regarding the original agreement. The enhanced divestiture package includes a modified and expanded store set and additional non-store assets to further enable C&S to operate competitively following the completion of the proposed merger. The companies believe the amended divestiture package will bolster their position in regulatory challenges to the proposed merger, including pending court proceedings.

“We have reached an agreement with C&S for an updated divestiture package that maintains Kroger’s commitments to customers, associates and communities, addresses concerns raised by regulators, and will further ensure that C&S can successfully operate the divested stores as they are operated today,” said Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s Chairman and CEO. “Importantly, the updated divestiture plan continues to ensure no stores will close as a result of the merger and that all frontline associates will remain employed, all existing collective bargaining agreements will continue, and associates will continue to receive industry-leading health care and pension benefits alongside bargained-for wages. Our proposed merger with Albertsons will bring lower prices and more choices to more customers and secure the long-term future of unionized grocery jobs.”

The proposed merger will create meaningful and measurable benefits for America’s consumers, Kroger and Albertsons Cos. associates, and communities that both Kroger and Albertsons Cos. serve by expanding access to fresh, affordable food and establishing a more compelling alternative to large, non-union retailers. This updated divestiture plan marks another next step toward the completion of the merger by adding a well-capitalized competitor into new geographies.

“We are confident this expanded divestiture package will provide the stores, supporting assets and expert operators needed to ensure these stores continue to successfully serve their communities for many generations to come,” said Eric Winn, CEO of C&S. “C&S is a leader in the grocery industry, and we are excited for this expansion of our current retail business, which is a key part of our long-term growth strategy. We look forward to welcoming storied banners, quality private label brands, and a team of experienced retail associates into the C&S family. This amended agreement enables C&S’s heritage of selection, value and customer service to continue our legacy of braggingly happy customers.”

Transaction Details
The updated divestiture package increases the total store count by 166 to include 579 stores that will be sold to, and continue operating as they do today by the new owner, C&S.

It maintains the sale to C&S of the QFC, Mariano’s and Carrs banner names. Under the amended agreement, Kroger will also sell the Haggen banner to C&S. Stores currently under these banners that are retained by Kroger will be re-bannered into one of the retained Kroger or Albertsons Cos. banners following the close of the transaction with C&S.

Under the amended agreement, C&S will license the Albertsons banner in California and Wyoming and the Safeway banner in Arizona and Colorado. In these states, Kroger will re-banner the retained Albertsons and Safeway bannered stores following the closing of the merger. Kroger will maintain the Albertsons and Safeway banners in the remaining states.

The number of stores contained in the divestiture plan by geography is as follows:

• WA: 124 Albertsons Cos. and Kroger stores
• CA: 63 Albertsons Cos. stores
• CO: 91 Albertsons Cos. stores
• OR: 62 Albertsons Cos. and Kroger stores
• TX/LA: 30 Albertsons Cos. stores
• AZ: 101 Albertsons Cos. stores
• NV: 16 Albertsons Cos. stores
• IL: 35 Albertsons Cos. and Kroger stores
• AK: 18 Albertsons Cos. stores
• ID: 10 Albertsons Cos. stores
• NM: 9 Albertsons Cos. stores
• MT/UT/WY: 11 Albertsons Cos. stores
• DC/MD/VA/DE: 9 Harris Teeter stores

The above stores (regardless of banner) will be sold by Kroger to C&S following the closing of the merger with Albertsons Cos.

In connection with the additional stores being conveyed to C&S, the updated divestiture package includes increased distribution capacity through a combination of different and larger facilities as well as expanded transition services agreements to support C&S and the addition of one dairy facility.

The amended divestiture package also expands the corporate and office infrastructure provided to C&S given the increased store set to ensure C&S can continue to operate the divested stores competitively and cohesively. All fuel centers and pharmacies associated with the divested stores will remain with the stores and continue to operate.

The amended agreement maintains the divestiture of private label brands Debi Lilly Design, Primo Taglio, Open Nature, ReadyMeals and Waterfront Bistro to C&S. The revised agreement also provides C&S with access to the Signature and O Organics private label brands.

The updated plan will:

• Extend a competitor to new geographies through the sale of stores to a well-capitalized buyer that is led by seasoned operators with a strong balance sheet and a sound business plan;
• Ensure that no stores will close as a result of the merger;
• Maintain all current collective bargaining agreements, which include industry-leading healthcare and pension benefits, bargained-for wages, and ensuring frontline associates remain employed; and
• Commit to invest in associates and stores for the long term.

Subject to fulfillment of customary closing conditions, including Federal Trade Commission and/or other governmental clearance, and the completion of the Kroger-Albertsons merger, C&S will pay Kroger an all-cash consideration of approximately $2.9 billion, including customary adjustments.

Merger creates meaningful benefits for customers, associates and communities
The proposed merger with Albertsons Cos. will produce meaningful and measurable benefits for customers, associates and communities across the country. The combined company committed that no stores, distribution centers or manufacturing facilities will close as a result of the merger.

Customers will benefit from lower prices and more choices following the merger close. Kroger committed to investing $500 million to begin lowering prices day one post-close, and an additional $1.3 billion to improve Albertsons Cos.’ stores.

This commitment builds on Kroger’s long track record of reducing prices every year, with $5 billion invested to lower prices since 2003. Customers will also have access to more favorite items from their own communities, as Kroger committed to increasing the number of local products in its stores by 10 percent post-close. This merger creates more opportunities for families to access the fresh, affordable foods they love.

As a combined company, Kroger committed to investing $1 billion to raise wages and comprehensive benefits. This builds on the incremental $2.4 billion Kroger invested to improve wages and comprehensive benefits since 2018. To provide the best holistic support for each associate, the company will also extend continuing education and financial literacy benefits to all associates following the merger close. As union membership continues to decline nationwide, especially in the grocery industry, this merger is the best way to secure union jobs. Kroger has added more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs since 2012.

The proposed merger will allow the combined company to invest more deeply to end hunger in communities across America. In 2023, Kroger committed to donating 10 billion meals to families across the U.S. by 2030. Bringing these companies together provides one more step toward achieving communities that are free from hunger and food waste.

Kroger and Albertsons Cos. remain committed to defending the merger in court and unlocking the many benefits it offers.

Read more about the combined company’s commitment to customers, associates and communities at www.krogeralbertsons.com

About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit™. We are, across our family of companies nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

BOISE, Idaho– The Albertsons Companies Foundation today announced the launch of a new collective effort focused on addressing childhood hunger this summer. By bringing together a coalition of leading nonprofit organizations, the first-of-its-kind initiative aims to drive awareness and boost participation in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children Program (Summer EBT), also known as SUN Bucks.

“Childhood hunger is a complex problem that requires partners from across the food system to come together and collaborate,” said Christy Duncan Anderson, President and Executive Director of Albertsons Companies Foundation. “Through the collective knowledge, expertise and extensive network of prominent nonprofits and the Albertsons Companies Foundation, we aim to connect with a greater number of families than we could individually.”

For the millions of kids who rely on free or reduced-priced meals at school, summer can mean a lack of access to nutritious food. To help combat this, the USDA has launched Summer EBT, a new program available in 37 states, all five U.S. territories, and two Tribes. The program will provide grocery benefits to low-income families with school-aged children during the summer months when school is out. Eligible families in participating states will receive $120 per eligible school-aged child to purchase groceries.

“We have advocated for the creation of a summer EBT program like SUN Bucks for more than a decade and we are thrilled that this program will be available to families facing food insecurity this summer,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “Working alongside people facing hunger and partners like Albertsons Companies Foundation, we will make a real impact on summer hunger and lay the groundwork for more states to participate next year.”

The Albertsons Companies Foundation’s Nourishing Neighbors program together with an Advisory Group of leading players across the food system will work together to ensure as many families as possible benefit from the program in this critical first year. The Advisory Group is comprised of representatives from Feeding America®, Food Research & Action Center, Gift Card Bank, Hunger Free America, mRelief, No Kid Hungry, Partnership for a Healthier America, and WhyHunger. This group reaches more than 200 foodbanks, 500 school districts and community organizations, and over 1500 partner organizations across the country.

“Summer is the hungriest time of the year for the millions of children who rely on school meals, and the rising costs of groceries means families are feeling the pinch even more,” added Anne Filipic, CEO of Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign. “We believe that by joining Albertsons Companies Foundation and their partners, together we can get one step closer to ensuring every single child in America has the food they need to grow up healthy and strong.”

Through a surround-sound approach designed to reach parents and caregivers online and, in their communities, the initiative aims to ensure families have access to the information they need to learn how they can benefit from this new program.

In addition, the coalition launched a new website, SummerEBT.org, which gives families a simple, fast way to check if they are eligible and connect to their state sign-up site. For families that live in states that are not participating, the site directs them to other food resources, such as the USDA Summer Meals program, and enables them write to their elected representatives encouraging their state’s participation next summer.

About Nourishing Neighbors
Nourishing Neighbors is the signature cause platform of the Albertsons Companies Foundation operating under 17 banners including Safeway, Albertsons, ACME, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Vons. The program is dedicated to ensuring that at-risk children, adults, seniors and families have access to nutritious food needed to thrive. In 2023, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the Company contributed more than $350 million in food and financial support, including more than $35 million through our Nourishing Neighbors Program to ensure those living in our communities and those impacted by disasters have enough to eat. The Foundation is committed to enabling the donation of one billion meals by 2030 and actively championing innovative programs and partnerships to help break the cycle of hunger in the neighborhoods we serve.

About Albertsons Companies
Albertsons Companies is a leading food and drug retailer in the United States. As of February 24, 2024, the Company operated 2,269 retail stores with 1,725 pharmacies, 402 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 19 manufacturing facilities. The Company operates stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under more than 20 well known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market.

GUANGZHOU, China, March 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — LED CHINA 2021 will be held during 14-16 April at Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, to provide more precise and comprehensive service for overseas VIP buyers, the organizer launched VIP Buyer Program and provide 1 to 1 online business matching service.

Founded in 2005, LED CHINA is the initiator of international LED exhibition in the world and has been recognized as the benchmark of the global LED industry. The exhibition features 7 main topics and presents an “all-in-one” trading platform that comprises the vertical sectors extending from LED and LED displays, including LED display, LED lighting, pro sound & light, conference integrated systems, AV integration, digital signage, commercial displays.

To meet the challenge of global travel restrictions, LED CHINA 2021 will be held both virtually and psychically. At LED CHINA Live virtual platform, online visitors will be able to enjoy the same visiting experience as offline visitor. To learn more information about the online show, please click: www.ledchina.com/en/virtual-led-china/

Besides the virtual platform, the organizer also improved VIP buyer service for 2021, VIP Buyer Program is exclusively designed for key buyers and senior decision makers from the show related industry. For those who have specific sourcing needs or purchasing plans. the organizer offers 1 to 1 customized service to help buyers fast connect with suppliers/exhibitors. Free privileges and amenities will be served to accelerate their sourcing efficiency.

As the core service from VIP Buyer Program, 1 to 1 Online Business Matching will be able to Free overseas buyers from the hassles of finding, evaluating, and arranging meetings with potential suppliers. As the leading Industry show, LED CHINA provides a FREE customized business matching service which will help overseas buyers to save time and connects overseas buyers with verified suppliers that fit their sourcing requirements.

With the customized business matching service, overseas buyer can just sit back and relax as our dedicated team will handle the time-consuming work for overseas buyer – from screening suppliers to arranging meetings. Through the new online service, overseas buyer can do business in no time and without boundaries.

To join 1 to 1 Online Business Matching, click https://informamarkets.wjx.cn/vj/wFUCbeE.aspx to submit sourcing demands.

About LED CHINA:

Established in 2005, LED CHINA is the initiator of international LED exhibition in the world. Being the benchmark of the global LED industrial chain, LED CHINA· Shenzhen is devoted to build a one-stop trading platform with a wide range of LED related products, LED applications in different industrial fields. (For more, visit: www.LEDChina.com)

Check LED CHINA 2021 Exhibitor List: http://public.informamarketstrust.com/en/exhibitor_list/sz2021/9.html

About the Organiser:

Informa Markets Trust, a joint venture of Informa Markets. Informa Markets is a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B event organizer in the world. It has over 11,000 staff and provides business service to over 40 countries for more than 50 different industries. Over 500 leading exhibitions across the globe are organised by Informa Markets

MOORESVILLE, N.C., — Lowe’s today announced “Into the Blue: Lowe’s Product Pitch Event,” the home improvement retailer’s largest and most impactful product sourcing forum to date. Entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes can apply for a chance to participate in this first-ever live event, during which Lowe’s plans to invest a target of $5 million in purchase orders* to new suppliers with opportunities for products to be carried within the company’s more than 1,700 retail stores and online at Lowes.com.

Today through Aug. 14, interested businesses with ready-for-market products can apply at Lowes.com/Suppliers. Select businesses chosen for Into the Blue will have the opportunity to pitch directly to Lowe’s representatives and leadership executives on Nov. 2-3, 2022 at the new Lowe’s Tech Hub in Charlotte, N.C. Opening this fall, the state-of-the-art facility serves as the leading center of excellence in Lowe’s retail technology and primary office for up to approximately 2,000 Lowe’s technology professionals.

“Into the Blue: Lowe’s Product Pitch Event gives entrepreneurs the chance to take their business to the next level,” said Bill Boltz, executive vice president, merchandising. “We are inviting businesses of any size to apply for Into the Blue because the more innovative products we uncover, the more solutions we can provide to our customers to make their homes and lives better.”

In addition to product pitches, Into the Blue will include extensive networking, a supplier fair and mainstage and breakout sessions. The sessions will offer a variety of business tips and topics to help educate participating business owners as they work to scale their operations.

“Lowe’s began as a small business more than 100 years ago, so we understand what it means to help a business succeed and the benefits it brings to their communities,” said Sarah Dodd, senior vice president, global merchandising. “We look forward to helping these businesses, especially often over-looked entrepreneurs, on their journey to be featured at a big box retailer.”

Prospective suppliers selected to attend will be notified by early September. Visit Lowes.com/Suppliers for complete entry terms and to apply to participate in the program.

*contingent on meeting Lowe’s supplier requirements, including completion of due diligence and agreement

About Lowe’s
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company serving approximately 19 million customer transactions a week in the United States and Canada. With fiscal year 2021 sales of over $96 billion, Lowe’s and its related businesses operate or service nearly 2,200 home improvement and hardware stores and employ over 300,000 associates. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing and helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

Contact: Olin Ericksen
Lowe’s Companies Inc.
Olin.Ericksen@lowes.com

SOURCE Lowe’s Companies, Inc.

CINCINNATI & MILAN – Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M), one of the premier retailers in the United States, and Luxottica Group S.p.A. (MTA:LUX; NYSE:LUX), a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, today announced an agreement to bring the LensCrafters optical retail experience to as many as 500 Macy’s department stores in the U.S. over the next three years.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151111005733/en/

The licensed department agreement builds on a successful relationship between the two companies that has resulted in the opening of approximately 670 of Luxottica’s Sunglass Hut locations within Macy’s stores to date. Together, Macy’s and Sunglass Hut have more than tripled the size of the sunglass business at Macy’s in the past six years. Using a proven model for success, LensCrafters, a leader in quality eye care, will now be the exclusive optical retailer of Macy’s and the first optical retail brand to expand nationally in a major department store. Macy’s will be the exclusive department store host of LensCrafters shops.

LensCrafters will open its first new Macy’s location in April of 2016, with the goal of opening approximately 100 locations by the end of next year. The stores will feature a new design concept created specifically for Macy’s customers, offering top fashion and luxury eyewear from brands including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada and Armani. Each department will be staffed by a LensCrafters affiliated optometrist, offer the industry’s most advanced eye care equipment and leverage the brand’s existing lab network to ensure the highest level of service. Macy’s 35 million customers will have access to the broadest assortment of premium frames, along with a unique in-store digital experience that includes lens simulators and virtual try-on technology.

“We look forward to welcoming LensCrafters into Macy’s stores nationwide and to deepening our successful relationship with Luxottica,” said Jeff Gennette, president of Macy’s, Inc. “In particular, LensCrafters reinforces Macy’s commitment to the health and wellness of our customers. Eye health is critical to everyone’s personal well-being, and easy in-store access to LensCrafters optometrists, personalized service and fashionable product assortment dovetail well with Macy’s strengths. As with Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters will enhance the productivity of our stores and strengthen Macy’s as a shopping destination.”

“Macy’s and Luxottica have a successful history together. Our relationship is built around a shared mission of providing customers with the highest quality products, a passion for style and a broad brand portfolio able to meet diverse consumer choices,” said Adil Khan, CEO of Markets, Luxottica Group. “The optical retail industry has incredible growth potential in North America and we see this agreement as a long-term investment in our customers’ eyes. Macy’s has a highly-engaged, influential customer – we will serve them to the highest standard with an optical experience that is uniquely LensCrafters.”

Macy’s Inc.
Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2014 sales of $28.105 billion. The company operates about 900 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet, Macy’s Backstage and Bluemercury, as well as the macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com websites. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement.

Luxottica Group S.p.A.
Luxottica is a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear. Its portfolio includes proprietary brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples and Alain Mikli, as well as licensed brands including Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Bvlgari, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany and Versace. The Group’s global wholesale distribution covers 130 countries and is complemented by an extensive retail network of over 7,000 stores, with LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, OPSM and LensCrafters in Asia-Pacific, GMO in Latin America and Sunglass Hut worldwide. In 2014 Luxottica posted sales of over 7.6 billion euro and had approximately 78,000 employees. More information available at www.luxottica.com.

“Macy’s has resolved its breach-of-contract lawsuit against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. We are pleased to be able to put this matter behind us. The terms of our settlement are confidential, will not be disclosed, and are not deemed to be material to Macy’s. We can now return our focus to what we do best – bringing beautifully designed, high quality, affordable products to consumers nationwide. We look forward to a continued, successful partnership together. This settlement does not affect Macy’s outstanding claim against J.C. Penney, which remains subject to the court’s decision.”

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2012 sales of $27.7 billion. The company operates about 840 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, as well as the macys.com and bloomingdales.com websites. The company also operates 13 Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement.

All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Macy’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this release because of a variety of factors, including conditions to, or changes in the timing of, proposed transactions, prevailing interest rates and non-recurring charges, competitive pressures from specialty stores, general merchandise stores, off-price and discount stores, manufacturers’ outlets, the Internet, mail-order catalogs and television shopping and general consumer spending levels, including the impact of the availability and level of consumer debt, the effect of weather and other factors identified in documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This Press Release is courtesy Macys.com

NEW YORK—- On Friday, July 4th, a national historic landmark will set a dramatic stage for dazzling pyrotechnics as the 38th Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® ignite the sky over New York City – Live from the Brooklyn Bridge. Set to deliver the nation’s largest display of patriotic firepower and ready to dazzle more than 3 million spectators and millions more on television nationwide, Macy’s Fireworks this year will be launched from barges positioned on the lower East River and from the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge.

“Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks are a one-of-a-kind spectacle that will once again inspire audiences nationwide as we illuminate the shores of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn with stunning effects, color and sound,” said Amy Kule, executive producer of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks. “This year, we are thrilled to incorporate the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge as a showcase for never-before-seen effects and as a stunning backdrop to the multi-dimensional, hyperkinetic experience of the nation’s best Independence Day fireworks display.”

Against the iconic New York City skyline, the 38th annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks will fire more than 40,000 pyrotechnic shells and effects during an expertly synchronized display. Pyro Spectaculars by Souza is once again at the helm of the pyrotechnics set to launch from the Brooklyn Bridge and from three barges positioned on the lower East River between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges heading south towards the historic South Street Seaport district and the shores of Brooklyn’s famed piers and promenade.

Beginning with the score, the musical blueprint to the high-flying explosions will be a patriotic wonder. The 25-minute display will be choreographed to dynamic new arrangements of both classic patriotic favorites and new musical selections. From “God Bless America” to “This Land Is Your Land,” the score will feature the talents of the all-female musicians of The DIVA Jazz Orchestra; with vocal artistry featuring Tony Award® winner Billy Porter helming the new song “It’s a Patriotic Kind of Day;” the world-famous Charlie Daniels Band on the patriotic “My Home;” and the acclaimed vocal ensemble Judith Clurman’s Essential Voices USA putting their special touch on “America the Beautiful.” In honor of the 200th anniversary of “The Star Spangled Banner,” Broadway superstar and Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel will inspire the entire nation with her heartfelt rendition of the National Anthem. As a special fan treat, Menzel’s spectacular version of “The Star Spangled Banner” will be available as a free, limited-time download from June 14 – July 5 on macys.com/fireworks.

Since 1976, Macy’s Fireworks have grown in scale and artistry as they burst to life over many of New York City’s waterways and neighborhoods. Incorporating landmarks and milestones is a Macy’s Fireworks signature. Macy’s last showcased the Brooklyn Bridge in its Fireworks spectacle in 1995. This year’s more intricate and advanced creative presentation on the Bridge will accentuate a jam-packed show of stunning effects.

Amy Kule added, “We’ve had our eyes set to feature this world-famous landmark in our show for many years, and with the advancements in pyrotechnic technology and artistry we expect to launch a series of custom effects at various featured points during the 25-minute show that will delight millions of spectators as this quintessential New York icon joins the 4th of July party.”

From a rapid-fire comet chase along the roadways and towers to a stunning rainbow cascade effect, the highlighted moments of the Brooklyn Bridge’s integration into the show will enhance the dynamic multi-angle, multi-dimensional fireworks presentation along the lower East River. With 5,000 custom-made effects among others emanating from the Bridge at various points during the display, the presentation ranges from special accent moments to full-scale Bridge solos, creating a spectacle fit for the record books. The 38th annual display which begins at approximately 9:20 p.m., will also debut new shells and effects including a red serpent star fish, puffy snowballs with red and blue centers, and amber-colored glitter shells. Revelers lining viewing locations are encouraged to enjoy the full experience by tuning in to radio station 1010 WINS-AM to hear the musical score to which the show is choreographed.

Macy’s explosive spectacle is made possible in part by Cracker Jack®, FYI™ Network, The Howard Hughes Corporation’s South Street Seaport, Kool-Aid®, Planters®, South Street Seaport Museum, and is presented in partnership with the City of New York.

Fans joining the revelry in person along viewing points on the water will be in for extra special treats as the fun begins with two rumbling flyovers from United States Navy F-18 jets at approximately 7:30 p.m. and a patriotic flight from the NYPD Helicopter unit at approximately 7:45 p.m.. In addition, the FDNY will return with their famed 4th of July water show beginning at 8 p.m. Public viewing locations and dedicated entry points will be set up along various streets in the South Street Seaport historic district for FDR Drive viewing in lower Manhattan and from various streets in Brooklyn for access to Brooklyn Bridge Park Piers 1-6, as well as the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

Spectators from coast-to-coast will also have a front row view of the pyro in the sky by tuning to NBC’s national broadcast of “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular” at 8 p.m. ET (check local listings). In addition to the pyrotechnics, the 4th of July’s most popular entertainment special will be hosted by Nick Cannon and feature performances from Ariana Grande, Hunter Hayes, Miranda Lambert, Lionel Ritchie, and more of the nation’s hottest musical acts.

For more information on the 38th annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks including detailed public viewing entry points and spectator tips, please visit www.macys.com/fireworks or call the Macy’s Fireworks Hotline at (212) 494-4495. For marine viewing information please call 212-494-5243.

NEW YORK– Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) today announced the closing on approximately $4.5 billion of new financing, including its previously announced $1.3 billion of 8.375% senior secured notes, as well as a new $3.15 billion asset-based credit agreement. In addition, the company has amended and substantially reduced the credit commitments of its existing $1.5 billion unsecured credit agreement. The company intends to use the proceeds of the notes offering, along with cash on hand, to repay the outstanding borrowings under the existing $1.5 billion unsecured credit agreement.

With the closing of these financings, the company expects to have sufficient liquidity to address the needs of the business, including funding operations and the purchase of new inventory for upcoming merchandising seasons, resolving its accrued payables obligations, and repaying upcoming debt maturities in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021.

“We are pleased with the strong demand from new investors in our notes issuance, which allowed us to tighten pricing and increase the size of the offering. The high quality of our real estate portfolio positioned us well to execute this offering. Additionally, the continued commitment from our bank group allowed us to more than double the size of our existing revolving credit facility. Together, the notes offering and asset-based credit agreement provide Macy’s, Inc. with approximately $4.5 billion of borrowings and commitments, giving us sufficient flexibility and liquidity to navigate our current environment and fund our business for the foreseeable future,” said Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc. “Combined with our ongoing Polaris initiatives, we are confident this liquidity will ensure Macy’s, Inc. remains a strong company to work for, invest in and partner with.”

Closing of Senior Secured Notes Offering

Macy’s, Inc. today closed on its previously announced 8.375% senior secured notes offering of $1.3 billion. The notes will mature in June 2025. The notes were issued by Macy’s, Inc. and are secured on a first-priority basis by (i) a first mortgage/deed of trust in certain real property of subsidiaries of Macy’s that were transferred to subsidiaries of Macy’s Propco Holdings, LLC, a newly created direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Macy’s (“Propco”) and (ii) a pledge by Propco of the equity interests in its subsidiaries that own such transferred real property. The notes are, jointly and severally, unconditionally guaranteed on a secured basis by Propco and its subsidiaries and unconditionally guaranteed on an unsecured basis by Macy’s Retail Holdings, LLC., a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Macy’s, Inc.

Closing of New Asset-Based Credit Agreement

In addition, the company today closed on a new $3.15 billion asset-based credit agreement. The asset-based credit agreement will mature in May 2024 and includes a short-term facility of $300 million that will mature in December 2020. The asset-based credit agreement also contains an accordion feature that will enable the company to request increases in the size of the facility up to an additional aggregate principal amount of $750 million. The new asset-based credit agreement is secured by all assets and common equity of the newly formed Macy’s Inventory Funding LLC, which has purchased the vast majority of the company’s inventory, and which is the borrower under the new asset-based credit agreement.

Amendment of Existing Revolving Credit Agreement

In conjunction with these financing activities, the company has substantially amended its existing $1.5 billion unsecured revolving credit agreement to reduce the available credit commitment and modify the agreement’s covenants. The amended revolving credit agreement provides the company with unsecured revolving credit of up to $75 million.

Advisors

The company was advised on these transactions by Lazard, Kirkland & Ellis and Jones Day. Additionally, Eastdil Secured served as the company’s real estate advisor.

Credit Suisse and JP Morgan served as joint physical book runners on the company’s senior secured notes issuance. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs served as book runners on the notes issuance.

Bank of America is serving as the Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger on the company’s asset-based credit agreement.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

About Macy’s, Inc.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) is one of the nation’s premier omni-channel fashion retailers, with fiscal 2019 sales of $24.6 billion. The company comprises three retail brands, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. Macy’s, Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.

NEW YORK– Shoppers will have even more reasons to be excited during Macy’s Black Friday Giveaway with a Million Dollars in Prizes in stores nationwide during doorbuster hours. Beginning at 6 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving Day, customers can shop the greatest deals of the weekend (all Black Friday specials were revealed today on macys.com/blackfriday), plus have a chance to win big, scoring digital gift codes that can be used instantly for Black Friday purchases. A new television spot scheduled to break on Nov. 23 features the world’s most loveable undersea character, SpongeBob SquarePants, offering his special enthusiasm to help build excitement for Macy’s Black Friday giveaway.

“This year, we’re adding another level of entertainment to our highly-anticipated Black Friday doorbusters and specials,” said Martine Reardon, chief marketing officer at Macy’s. “As customers navigate their shopping route throughout the store, they will be able to score digital gift codes offering instant wins via Macy’s mobile app. This element of surprise along with a playful new commercial featuring our official holiday ambassador, SpongeBob SquarePants, is certain to add a new element of fun to our customers’ shopping experience on Black Friday this year.”

“SpongeBob’s special brand of optimism and cheer is the perfect complement to Macy’s phenomenal Black Friday promotion that gives back to consumers in a big way,” said Pam Kaufman, chief marketing officer and president Consumer Products, Nickelodeon Group. “I’m personally excited to see Black Friday turn SpongeBob yellow.”

Using Macy’s mobile app, customers can scan QR codes in-store to enter the instant win experience during doorbuster hours, beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 27 through 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, and Saturday, Nov. 29 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Upon scanning, customers will see if they have won a digital gift code worth $10, $25, $50 or $250. At the end of each hour, a new pool of prizes becomes available and customers can play again. See rules and regulations for full details, including alternate method of entry at macys.com/million. One million dollars in digital gift codes will be given away. No purchase is necessary. Text “APP” to 62297 to download Macy’s mobile app. Customers are encouraged to download in advance. Message and data rates may apply.

This year’s Black Friday television spot centers around several customers’ enthusiastic reaction to first hearing about Macy’s “Black Friday Give-Away with a Million Dollars in Prizes.” When one family, along with SpongeBob SquarePants and his starfish sidekick Patrick, receive word about the giveaway via breaking news, they take excitement to a new level, sharing an equally exuberant response.

Fans of all ages can bring home the fun with an exclusive SpongeBob SquarePants holiday plush, complete with Patrick and Plankton finger puppets, available in-store and online at macys.com/squarepants. Only at Macy’s, this giftable item also features a special code on the hangtag that can be used to unlock exclusive content.

Starting today, customers can preview Black Friday specials online at macys.com/blackfriday and add favorites to their shopping list which is available via desktop, mobile device and tablet. They can also create custom tags to organize recipients and shop straight from their list all Thanksgiving Day on macys.com.

About Macy’s
Macy’s, the largest retail brand of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M), delivers fashion and affordable luxury to customers at approximately 800 locations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, as well as to customers in the U.S. and more than 100 international destinations through its leading online store at macys.com. Via its stores, e-commerce site, mobile and social platforms, Macy’s offers distinctive assortments including the most desired family of exclusive and fashion brands for him, her and home. Macy’s is known for such epic events as Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®, as well as spectacular fashion shows, culinary events, flower shows and celebrity appearances. Macy’s flagship stores — including Herald Square in New York City, Union Square in San Francisco, State Street in Chicago, Dadeland in Miami and South Coast Plaza in southern California — are known internationally and leading destinations for visitors. Building on a more than 150-year tradition, and with the collective support of customers and employees, Macy’s helps strengthen communities by supporting local and national charities giving more than $70 million each year to help make a difference in the lives of our customers.

NEW YORK — Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) today announced details of a restructuring that will align its cost base with anticipated near-term sales as the business recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the closure of stores from March 18 through May 4, 2020 and gradual re-opening.

The company will reduce corporate and management headcount by approximately 3,900. Additionally, Macy’s, Inc. has reduced staffing across its stores portfolio, supply chain and customer support network, which it will adjust as sales recover.

“COVID-19 has significantly impacted our business. While the re-opening of our stores is going well, we do anticipate a gradual recovery of business, and we are taking action to align our cost base with our anticipated lower sales,” said Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc. “These were hard decisions as they impact many of our colleagues. I want to thank all of our colleagues – those who have been active and those on furlough – for helping us get through this difficult time, and I want to express my deep gratitude to the colleagues who are departing for their service and contributions. We look forward to welcoming back many of our furloughed colleagues the first week of July.”

“We know that we will be a smaller company for the foreseeable future, and our cost base will continue to reflect that moving forward. Our lower cost base combined with the approximately $4.5 billion in new financing will also make us a more stable, flexible company,” Gennette continued.

Financial Impact

The company expects the actions announced today to generate expense savings of approximately $365 million in fiscal 2020 and approximately $630 million on an annualized basis. These savings will be additive to the anticipated $1.5 billion in annual expense savings announced in February, which the company expects to fully realize by year-end 2022.

For fiscal 2020, the company expects pre-tax costs of approximately $180 million for these restructuring activities, the majority of which will be recorded in the second quarter and all of which will be in cash.

First Quarter Earnings Call

The company will release its final first quarter earnings results on July 1, 2020. A webcast of Macy’s, Inc.’s call with analysts and investors will be held that day at 8:00 a.m. ET. The webcast, along with the associated presentation, is accessible to the media and general public via the company’s investor relations website at www.macysinc.com/investors. Analysts and investors may call in on 1-800-458-4148, passcode, 4021974. A replay of the conference call and slides can be accessed on the website or by calling 1-888-203-1112 (same passcode) about two hours after the conclusion of the call.

About Macy’s, Inc.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) is one of the nation’s premier omni-channel fashion retailers. The company comprises three retail brands, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. Macy’s, Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.

DEERFIELD, Ill., June 23, 2015– Mondelez International today announced that it has renewed its global strategic partnership with Facebook, the world’s largest discovery platform, with a focus on creating and delivering creative video content and driving impulse snack purchasing online. Through this partnership, the companies will work together to leverage and innovate around two of the fastest growing consumer behaviors on social media platforms: video consumption and mobile commerce.

“The partnership with Facebook is a core element of our fearless marketing vision which aims at accelerating growth through transformational marketing,” said Dana Anderson, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Mondelez International. “Investing in large-scale media partnerships enables us to connect our brands with consumers in new creative ways.”

On the video front, a dedicated, full-time Facebook creative strategist will work alongside Mondelez International marketers and its agencies to develop scalable video content natively for the platform to optimize social engagement. In addition, Facebook will be responsible for developing playbooks, webinars and eLearning modules that create a unified approach to developing content for the platform across Mondelez International brands. The partnership also includes opportunities to opt into beta-testing programs on Facebook and Instagram. Brokered in conjunction with Dentsu Aegis Media, the agreement covers 52 countries, including Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, the U.K., the U.S. and the Gulf States.

“Our recent campaigns with brands like Philadelphia in Europe have demonstrated that we can deliver engaging, tailor-made video on Facebook and seamlessly convert that content into purchases,” said Gerry D’Angelo, Media Director Europe at Mondelez International. “Partnering with Facebook allows us to leverage their video platform, which is currently the fastest-growing. Combined with their unparalleled reach and social sharing capabilities, we have the opportunity to make Facebook our single largest-selling channel.”

On the e-commerce front, Mondelez International and Facebook will work together to test scalable solutions to drive impulse purchases with some of the company’s Power Brands across key markets such as Australia, India, the U.K. and the U.S.

“Facebook is the number one player in mobile, and its ability to reach millennial consumers, our primary target audience, is what makes our partnership so invaluable,” said Cindy Chen, Global Head of E-Commerce at Mondelez International. “Used by consumers and distributors alike, Facebook is the ideal channel for cracking the code on how to ‘sell a cookie online,’ creating a true social digital commerce model with the potential to become our largest digital storefront.”

“Working with partners like Mondelez International inspires us to build innovative programs and impactful campaigns that drive business results,” said Carolyn Everson, VP Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to co-create the future of mobile commerce together.”

About Mondelez International
Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a global snacking powerhouse, with 2014 revenue of $34 billion. Creating delicious moments of joy in 165 countries, Mondelez International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages, with billion-dollar brands such as Oreo, LU, Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; Trident gum; Jacobs coffee and Tang powdered beverages. Mondelez International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mdlz.

Danish international discount grocery retailer Netto is returning to Britain in an attractive new trial format, bringing a fresh Scandinavian flavour to the UK discount sector. The new-look Netto will take the form of a joint venture combining Dansk Supermarked’s excellence in systems, infrastructure and low-cost operations with Sainsbury’s UK grocery, product sourcing and property expertise, in a compelling customer proposition.

The trial will consist of 15 Netto stores to be opened by the end of 2015, with the first opening their doors in the North of England later this year. If the trial proves successful, the next stage of the joint venture will see the new format rolled out across the country.

Each partner’s initial investment in the joint venture will be £12.5 million, and given start-up costs, each partner expects to incur a post-tax loss in the region of £5-10 million up to 31 March 2015.

Per Bank, CEO of Netto’s parent company Dansk Supermarked, said: “It’s great to be bringing a new twist to the rapidly-growing UK discount sector. We’ll offer market-leading value to customers with the freshness and innovation that customers rightly associate with Denmark.

“The discounter experience, operating model and systems of the Dansk Supermarked group, combined with Sainsbury’s UK market insight, property expertise and logistics excellence will help deliver a discounter format we think UK customers will love.”

The new Netto stores represent a complete departure from the format that left the UK market in 2010. They will offer outstanding value and ease of shopping to customers and will feature a great fresh food offer as well as an in-house bakery offering fresh Danish breads and delicious Danish pastries.

There will also be weekly and seasonal “when it’s gone it’s gone” offers in both food and non-food ranges, bringing customers a “new world every week” at outstanding prices.

Mike Coupe, CEO Designate of Sainsbury’s said: “We are very excited about helping to bring the new Netto to British shoppers. This joint venture provides a great opportunity for us to gain exposure to the high growth discount market for the first time in partnership with Dansk Supermarked, whose expertise and values are a strong complement to our own.

“If successful, this trial has the potential to open up a new long term growth opportunity for us complementing our fast expanding convenience, online and non-food businesses, as well as our existing supermarket estate.”

The UK discount sector is currently worth an estimated £10 billion in annual sales and is forecast to double in value to approximately £20 billion in the next five years (source: IGD).

Netto will be led by Morten Möberg Nielsen, previously Managing Director of Netto International in Germany, whose successful track record spans 18 years in retail including 14 years with Dansk Supermarked.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) will open 15 stores in 2015, including three distinct store formats: eight TargetExpress locations, one CityTarget and six general merchandise stores. Target’s strategic store growth is focused on reaching guests in urban centers with new formats like TargetExpress and CityTarget, while also offering new experiences, merchandising layouts and innovations in its general merchandise stores.

“Our store growth looks different today than it did five years ago, driven by guests’ expectations for ease and personalization in their shopping experience. Smaller formats like TargetExpress and CityTarget offer customized assortments and services to meet the needs of guests who are increasingly moving into urban centers. In our general merchandise stores, we’re embracing a test and learn philosophy, innovating with layouts and experiences and bringing digital and bricks and mortar together like never before,” said Tina Tyler, executive vice president and chief stores officer, Target.

TargetExpress
In addition to previously announced openings in San Francisco, San Diego and St. Paul, Minn. Target plans to bring two TargetExpress stores to the greater Washington, D.C. area and one to Chicago. The retailer’s newest and smallest format at approximately 20,000 square feet, TargetExpress provides an exceptional quick-trip shopping experience that is distinctly Target. The varying size and locations of these stores will enable Target to create a unique store experience and curated merchandise assortment localized for each community. Target will continue to test TargetExpress stores to learn more about operating small format locations and further enhance and customize the guest experience. Target currently operates one TargetExpress location in Minneapolis, which opened in July 2014 and has already made adjustments based on guest feedback and operational insights. For example, the assortment was expanded to include baking supplies, belts, sunglasses, jewelry and select apparel items, including C9 items. Beyond 2015, Target is exploring a number of opportunities to bring TargetExpress to select major markets across the country, including the greater Philadelphia area, Los Angeles, the greater Washington, D.C. area, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay area.

CityTarget
In 2015, Target will open its first East Coast CityTarget store in Boston near the Fenway ballpark, followed by a location in Brooklyn, N.Y. that will open in 2016 in the City Point development. CityTarget debuted in 2012 to bring the Target experience to urban guests, who have an affinity for great design and great value, but previously had to travel outside the city to one of Target’s suburban store locations. CityTarget offers an edited assortment of its best-selling merchandise with urban dwellers in mind. Smaller pack sizes and a curated assortment mean these guests can easily carry home a smaller package of paper towels or shop for an apartment-scale bistro set, rather than a larger, six-piece patio set designed for suburban dwellers. CityTarget stores are typically smaller than traditional Target stores, ranging in size from 80,000-160,000 square feet, and are some of its highest traffic locations in the company. There are currently eight CityTarget stores, including three in Los Angeles, two in San Francisco, one in Seattle, one in Portland, Ore. and one in Chicago.

General Merchandise
Target continues to innovate with its general merchandise stores, testing new layouts and merchandise assortments to provide guests with a great shopping experience that brings convenient, easy, personalized options. For example, the Fort Worth, Texas store will feature Target’s home product assortment in a lifestyle setting to stop guests in their tracks and allow them to imagine how products might look in their own homes. Additionally, the new Oahu-Kailua, Hawaii store will offer merchandise from approximately thirty local vendors to provide relevant merchandise for guests.

Community Programs and Partnerships
With each new store that Target builds, the company brings its legacy of giving to the local community through the programs and partnerships it supports. In 2015, Target will continue to sponsor numerous programs as part of its commitment to building strong communities including: Take Charge of Education; food donations; disaster response and relief; United Way Workplace Giving; National and Regional Days of Service; team member volunteerism; walks with national partners, including St. Jude and American Cancer Society; and, local giving by individual stores through GiftCard grants and a Community Engagement Fund.

A Great Place to Work
Target prides itself on being a great place to work and offers a dynamic, team-oriented culture focused on delivering excellent guest service. Interested candidates may begin to apply for store positions approximately three months prior to the store-opening date in any of the following ways:

About Target

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at 1,790 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit ABullseyeView.com or follow @TargetNews on Twitter.

SEATTLE– Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced it is hiring for more than 6,000 full-time jobs across its U.S. fulfillment network to meet growing customer demand. Employees will pick, pack and ship customer orders.

“We’re proud to be creating more than 6,000 full-time positions where employees will interact with state-of-the-art technology as part of their day-to-day roles,” said Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations. “Amazon not only offers great pay and benefits, we also encourage our employees to continue to grow in their careers.”

Amazon offers hourly employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where the company will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. As part of its Career Choice program, the company offers classes from local community and technical colleges to associates onsite at select U.S. fulfillment centers.

Amazon has more than 50 fulfillment centers in the U.S. The company is hiring in the following communities:

Baltimore, MD
Breinigsville, PA
Carlisle, PA
Chattanooga, TN
Chester, VA
Haslet, TX
Hazleton, PA
Hebron, KY
Jeffersonville, IN
Kenosha, WI
Lexington, KY
Middletown, DE
Murfreesboro, TN
Petersburg, VA
Plainfield, IN
Robbinsville, NJ
West Columbia, SC
Whitestown, IN
Windsor, CT

To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center or apply for a job, visit www.workatamazonfulfillment.com.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

BOCA RATON, Fla. –Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products, services, and solutions formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, today announced its expanded partnership with Samsung to bring the latest in wireless printing and tablet technology, including mobile device printing and HDTV-quality screens, into Office Depot and OfficeMax retail locations nationwide and online at www.officedepot.com and www.officemax.com.

To meet consumers’ need for cutting-edge mobile lifestyles, Samsung created a range of printer options with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that makes wireless printing as simple as tapping a smartphone or tablet to connect the printer, allowing everyone to stay connected and productive wherever they go.

“A partnership with Samsung is a perfect pairing, and more importantly, a natural extension to our long-standing commitment to offering the best and most innovative products,” said Randy Wick, senior vice president of merchandising for Office Depot, Inc. “In addition to providing high-quality products, we strive to help streamline the fast-paced lives of our customers, especially small to medium-sized business owners, with technology that can simplify their everyday tasks.”

New Samsung SMART printers, which are sold exclusively at Office Depot and OfficeMax, include:

Multifunction Xpress C460FW ($399.99):
With 4-in-1 functionality, including print, copy, scan and fax, the compact color laser printer can handle everything with the greatest of ease and get the job done in a snap. The printer’s ultra-small footprint means it fits virtually anywhere in a home or small office and its one-touch wireless setup helps save time.

Printer Xpress C1810W ($299.99):
Featuring print speeds up to 19 pages per minute (ppm), the latest image processing and polymerized toner formulation, along with Samsung’s easy-to-use functionality and eco-conscious printing options makes the Xpress a great choice for personal or professional use.

Printer Xpress M2020W and Multifunction M2070FW ($129.99, $209.99)
To make sure the job gets done in a breeze, the Xpress Printer and Multifunction options offer fast print speeds up to 21 ppm and are Google Cloud Print-ready to print from anywhere with an internet connection. To save more than time, these printers include an Easy Eco Driver to help save up to 20 percent on toner.

In addition to the exclusive Samsung printers, Office Depot and OfficeMax will also add Samsung’s two newest Galaxy Tab S tablets to its offerings. Available in 8.4 and 10.5-inch screens for $399.99 and $499.99, respectively, both tablets include cutting-edge features for the best experience:

Super AMOLED® displays with crystal-clear 4 million-pixel picture quality brings entertainment alive with more vivid colors, a clearer contrast and resolution that is two times the quality of an HDTV.
Multi Window™ function allows everyone to make the most of their screens by using side-by-side apps with the ability to drag content from one app to the other.
Ultra Power Saving Mode and the Fingerprint Scanner let users shut off nonessential apps to maximize battery life or quickly secure their tablets with the swipe of a finger whenever they need it most.
For full Samsung product details and to learn more, please visit a local Office Depot or OfficeMax retail store location, or visit www.officedepot.com or www.officemax.com.

About Office Depot, Inc.

Formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, Office Depot, Inc. is a leading global provider of products, services, and solutions for every workplace – whether your workplace is an office, home, school, or car.

Office Depot, Inc. is a resource and a catalyst to help customers work better. We are a single source for everything customers need to be more productive, including the latest technology, core office supplies, print and document services, business services, facilities products, furniture, and school essentials.

The company has combined pro forma annual sales of approximately $17 billion, employs more than 60,000 associates, and serves consumers and businesses in 58 countries with more than 2,000 retail stores, award-winning e-commerce sites and a dedicated business-to-business sales organization – all delivered through a global network of wholly owned operations, joint ventures, franchisees, licensees and alliance partners. The company’s portfolio of leading brands includes Office Depot, OfficeMax, OfficeMax Grand & Toy, Viking, Ativa, TUL, Foray, and DiVOGA.

Office Depot, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://news.officedepot.com.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -Office Depot, Inc. (NASDAQ: ODP), a leading global provider of office products, services, and solutions formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, today launched its Elf Who Helps Small Business contest, designed to give small businesses the opportunity to win the extra help they need to complete their end-of-year to-do lists on time and on budget.

Holidays are a busy time for small businesses as they juggle daily tasks, prepare for the close of the year and fit in holiday office parties and business gifting. Office Depot and OfficeMax want to give select small businesses the assistance they need. Powered by TaskRabbit, a peer-to-peer marketplace that helps local users outsource everything from household errands to skilled tasks, Elf Who Helps will give the winning small businesses the boost they need to close out the year feeling organized and ready to tackle 2015.

“From client holiday gifting to closing out the year’s financials, the bustle of the holiday season for all businesses is about to begin, and we have all heard it before that there is not enough hands to complete the work, and that is exactly what Office Depot and OfficeMax will deliver to 14 lucky winners,” said Eduardo Souchon, senior marketing director for Office Depot, Inc. “With more time and money being spent during the busy holiday season, we want to give back and make sure these small businesses have what they need to boost their success into the new year and beyond.”

Now through November 12, small business owners and employees can participate by visiting the Elf Who Helps website and submitting, in 150 words or less, what task they need assistance with and how it will help them. Fourteen small businesses will be selected to receive a variety of products and a $1,000 gift card supplied by Office Depot and OfficeMax to organize their businesses, as well as up to two days of on-site services from TaskRabbit.

The Elf Who Helps Small Business is part of the overall ‘Office Depot and OfficeMax Your Holiday Workshop’ campaign to ensure businesses and individuals are prepared to give the right gifts to everyone on their list and satisfy their everyday office needs, all at a one-stop shop and at a great value. From gifts under $20 to personalized items such as designer holiday and photo cards, photo canvases and calendars, and convenient in-store mailing and shipping via UPS, FedEx and USPS, Office Depot and OfficeMax have some of the seasons most sought after gifts and services at great values. A go-to gift-giving headquarters, Office Depot and OfficeMax will also have extended shipping hours.

To enter the Elf Who Helps Small Business contest, please visit www.elfwhohelps.com. Contest ends November 22 and winners will be announced on December 8. Official contest rules are as follows: No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Void where prohibited by law or regulation. Contest is open to legal US/DC residents (18) years of age or older and who either own or is an employee of a small business are eligible to enter the Contest on behalf of an eligible Small Business. Entry begins on 10/22/14 at 12:00:01 a.m. EDT and ends on 11/12/14 at 11:59:59 p.m. EST. All eligible entries will be judged to determine up to (14) winning entries. Winners announced 12/8/14. Sponsor: Office Depot, Inc., 6600 North Military Trail, C513B, Boca Raton, FL 33496. For important terms, conditions and Official Rules visit www.elfwhohelps.com.

About Office Depot, Inc.

Formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, Office Depot, Inc. is a leading global provider of products, services, and solutions for every workplace – whether your workplace is an office, home, school, or car.

Office Depot, Inc. is a resource and a catalyst to help customers work better. We are a single source for everything customers need to be more productive, including the latest technology, core office supplies, print and document services, business services, facilities products, furniture, and school essentials.

The company has combined pro forma annual sales of approximately $17 billion, employs more than 60,000 associates, and serves consumers and businesses in 57 countries with more than 2,000 retail stores, award-winning e-commerce sites and a dedicated business-to-business sales organization – all delivered through a global network of wholly owned operations, joint ventures, franchisees, licensees and alliance partners. The company operates under several banner brands including Office Depot, OfficeMax, OfficeMax Grand & Toy, Reliable and Viking. The company’s portfolio of exclusive product brands include TUL, Foray, DiVOGA, Ativa, WorkPRO, Realspace and HighMark.

Office Depot, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://news.officedepot.com.

About TaskRabbit
The pioneer in “service networking,” TaskRabbit provides people and businesses with an easy, trusted and secure way to get both everyday and skilled tasks done. A two-way marketplace, TaskRabbit connects people who need help, with our ‘Taskers,’ a network of 30,000 pre-approved and background-checked individuals, who have the time and skills needed to complete the job, letting everyone live smarter. TaskRabbit is a one-stop marketplace for home and office services, including cleaning, handyman tasks, organization, deliveries, and moving help. For more information, visit http://www.taskrabbit.com or follow TaskRabbit on Twitter and Facebook.

EATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 1, 2014– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today unveiled its eighth generation fulfillment center, which utilizes robotics, Kiva technology, vision systems and almost 20 years’ worth of software and mechanical innovations to fulfill holiday orders. The company is currently operating 10 of this new generation of fulfillment centers across the U.S.

“The Amazon fulfillment teams are dedicated to innovating in our fulfillment centers to increase speed of delivery while enabling greater local selection at lower costs for our customers. The advancements in our latest fulfillment centers hit all three of these customer desires while continuing to provide a work environment that is great for employees,” said Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations and customer service.

Some features of Amazon’s eighth generation fulfillment center include:

Kiva robots of which Amazon currently has more than 15,000 operating across the U.S.;
Robo-Stow, one of Earth’s largest robotic arms moving large quantities of inventory for customer order fulfillment;
New vision systems enabling the unloading and receipt of an entire trailer of inventory in as little as 30 minutes instead of hours; and
New, high-end graphically oriented computer systems for employees to use while fulfilling orders for customers.
Amazon recently announced it will hire 80,000 seasonal employees to fulfill customer orders this holiday, a 14 percent increase over last year. The company expects that thousands of those employees will stay on in regular, full-time roles.

View photos and videos of Amazon’s eighth generation fulfillment center here. Learn more about Amazon’s Cyber Monday deals here.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Poshmark, Inc. (Nasdaq: POSH), a leading social marketplace for new and secondhand style for women, men, kids, pets, home and more, today announced that it has acquired Suede One, a platform that combines machine learning, computer vision and expert human review to virtually authenticate sneakers. The Suede One team will join the Poshmark team, effective today.

This deal marks Poshmark’s first acquisition and reflects the company’s focus on strategic investments that drive continued platform innovation, accelerate growth in high-growth resale categories and enhance the user experience to attract and retain both buyers and sellers.

“We are laser focused on making strategic investments that fuel the continued growth of our business, give the best overall experience for buyers and make our marketplace the number one, most trusted destination for sellers,” said Manish Chandra, founder and CEO of Poshmark. “Suede One has built impressive capabilities in virtual authentication that will allow us to deliver tangible benefits to our community, scale our authentication services in a meaningful way, and accelerate our momentum in sneakers as well as luxury goods, two of the fastest-growing categories in the resale space. We are thrilled to welcome the Suede One team to Poshmark and look forward to what we can build together.”

Founded in 2020, Suede One’s technology enables an inventoryless approach to authentication. The technology analyzes product images, running algorithms on consistencies to identify whether an item is real or counterfeit. For popular sneakers such as Jordan 1s and Yeezy 350s, Suede One can automatically authenticate the majority of submissions with greater than 99% accuracy, based on internal testing. For other sneaker types, human experts review the submission with help from the company’s proprietary authenticator tool. Suede One has built a reputation for credible and quick authentication with the broader resale community as well as esteemed resellers, authenticating a pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes that sold for $1.8 million at auction.

“We built this company to solve a key challenge for the reseller community—creating technology that protects them from fraud and ensures fast, accurate authentication that they can rely on,” said Matt Forloine, CEO of Suede One. “Poshmark and Suede One share the same values of trust and focus on community, and by joining forces we’ll be able to advance our technology and scale these services to more products and categories and benefit as many people as possible.”

Suede One’s virtual authentication capabilities will complement Posh Protect, which guarantees a full refund for any item not matching its listing description, and Posh Authenticate, which will continue to offer free authentication by Poshmark’s team of luxury experts for orders of $500 or more. With this acquisition, Poshmark will be able to augment and scale these services to support both buyers and sellers on more transactions and begin offering virtual authentication for sneakers at multiple price points, with the potential to expand to additional categories.

About Poshmark
Poshmark is a leading social marketplace for new and secondhand style for women, men, kids, pets, home and more. By combining the human connection of physical shopping with the scale, ease, and selection benefits of e-commerce, Poshmark makes buying and selling simple, social, and sustainable. Its community of more than 80 million registered users across the U.S., Canada, Australia and India, is driving the future of commerce while promoting more sustainable consumption. For more information, please visit www.poshmark.com, and for company news and announcements, please visit investors.poshmark.com. You can also find Poshmark on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Media Contact
pr@poshmark.com

Investor Contact
ir@poshmark.com

SOURCE Poshmark

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FORT WORTH, Texas, — RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to restructure a portion of its existing debt, providing additional near-term liquidity and serving as a first step in a stronger foundation for the Company’s continued business transformation.

Standard General LP and certain other investors have replaced GE Capital as lead lender under RadioShack’s senior secured asset based credit facility (“ABL Facility”) which will allow immediate access to additional liquidity. Other investors, including RadioShack shareholders Standard General and Litespeed Management LLC, are providing $120 million to be used to cash collateralize letters of credit for the Company. In the coming months, this $120 million is expected to be converted into equity. Current shareholders will have the opportunity to participate in a rights offering at same conversion price.

“We are pleased to complete this important step, which we believe positions us to continue to progress our operational turnaround,” said Joe Magnacca, RadioShack’s chief executive officer. “We recognize that we will need to address constraints under our existing term loan in order to undertake a store base consolidation program and pursue other measures to reduce our cost structure. This amended ABL Facility provides time to pursue a longer-term restructuring. To that end, we are in constructive discussions with our term lenders, led by Salus Capital, toward additional steps to recapitalize RadioShack.

“We look forward to continuing to serve our customers with differentiated products and an upgraded shopping experience as we move into the Holiday season.”

Today’s agreements include two key elements:

ABL Facility – Standard General and certain other investors have acquired the loans and agreed to changes affecting the credit availability under RadioShack’s existing ABL Facility. As a result, RadioShack believes that it will have sufficient credit capacity under the ABL Facility to fund its inventory build for the Holiday season. Because borrowing availability under the amended ABL Facility changes in March 2015, the Company expects to seek to refinance the facility by that time. In addition, the amended ABL Facility will be required to be refinanced if the rights offering described below is not completed by March 15, 2015.
New equity – The $120 million investment is expected to be converted into equity securities representing (together with related fees payable in equity securities) not less than 50% of the Company’s outstanding equity securities upon satisfaction of certain conditions. These conditions include the modification of a supplier contract, at least $100 million of available cash and borrowing capacity at January 15, 2015, development of a fiscal 2016 plan satisfying certain requirements and the completion of a rights offering to existing RadioShack shareholders to purchase equity securities at a price of $0.40 per common share equivalent.
The percentage of equity securities that Standard General and other investors will own as a result of this transaction will depend upon the level of participation, if any, of existing shareholders in the rights offering. If no shares were purchased in the rights offering, existing shareholders would own 20% of RadioShack’s equity securities. The voting rights of any person or group acquiring equity securities in the transaction would be limited to 34.9% of the total voting power of the Company’s voting stock so long as greater voting power would accelerate Company debt.

If the $120 million investment is converted into equity, the Board will be reconstituted to consist of the Company’s CEO, two independent directors selected by RadioShack and four individuals nominated by Standard General. The new directors must be approved by the Company’s corporate governance committee. At least two of these directors must be independent.

RadioShack intends to initiate the rights offering late this year or in early 2015. There can be no assurance that the rights offering will be completed or that the other conditions to the equity conversion will be satisfied, nor can the Company be certain that it will be able to refinance borrowings under the amended ABL Facility by March 2015.

NYSE EXEMPTION

The stock issuances described above would normally require approval of RadioShack’s shareholders pursuant to the Shareholder Approval Policy of the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”). The audit and compliance committee of RadioShack’s Board of Directors determined that the delay that would result from securing shareholder approval prior to the completion of these stock issuances would seriously jeopardize the financial viability of RadioShack. Because of that determination, the audit and compliance committee, pursuant to an exception provided in the Exchange’s shareholder approval policy, expressly approved RadioShack’s omission to seek the shareholder approval that would otherwise have been required under that policy. The Exchange has accepted the Company’s application of the exception.

In conjunction with the rights offering, RadioShack intends to initially issue equity securities that would be convertible, subject to the satisfaction of all applicable conditions, into at least 400 million shares (and up to 700 million shares) of common stock. In reliance on the Exchange’s shareholder approval exception, RadioShack will notify its shareholders of its intention to issue the shares without seeking their approval at least ten days prior to the issuance of the shares.

FORT WORTH, Texas, — RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) has announced that it received a notice from Salus Capital Partners, a unit of Harbinger Group, Inc., claiming covenant breaches under the $250 million Term Loan facility provided by Salus and Cerberus Business Finance, a unit of Cerberus Capital Management. The claims relate primarily to the recapitalization and investment agreement and amendment to the Company’s ABL credit facility, which in each case were entered into by the Company on October 3, 2014. RadioShack believes these claims are wrong and self-serving.

RadioShack intends to vigorously contest the claims. The Company has been advised by lenders holding a majority of the loans and commitments under its ABL credit facility that they intend to continue to extend credit to the Company in accordance with the terms of the ABL credit facility.

Joe Magnacca, RadioShack’s chief executive officer, said, “We will do everything we can to assure that these claims do not distract us from our ongoing efforts to rationalize our capital structure and transform our business. We will maintain our focus on operating our business as we move forward.”

Magnacca continued: “Despite their intimate knowledge of the challenges that RadioShack faced when they extended credit to us late last year, our current term lenders have repeatedly blocked our efforts to accelerate and intensify our turnaround and make smart decisions for our business. Now, prompted by their narrow self-interest, they appear to be trying to manufacture a problem during the critical Holiday shopping season in an effort to get out of a loan on which they have already reaped more than $35 million in fees and interest payments.”

“We intend to do everything in our power to prevent them from using what we see as unfounded technical arguments to benefit unjustly at the expense of other creditors, the hundreds of communities we serve, the many other businesses we support and the jobs of more than 25,000 hard-working people,” Magnacca said.

Magnacca continued, “This is particularly disturbing in light of meaningful steps we have taken in our turnaround plan, as well as the recapitalization steps announced in October which, if conditions are satisfied, would result in the conversion of at least $120 million of debt into equity.” Among the operational steps taken by RadioShack are the following:

The Company has reconfigured store hours at select locations that are expected to reduce annual operating costs by $35 million and have also completed major cost reduction projects, principally saving costs in IT and more efficient DC operations, of over $39 million.
As the Company has communicated clearly to the term lenders, it has additional cost-reduction measures in process that it intends to announce in connection with its upcoming quarterly earnings release, which it believes could save an additional $200 million or more in operating expenses beyond the impact of the store closures, dramatically improving the cash flow of its business.
An additional critical cost reduction measure involves the closure of up to 1,100 stores so that the Company can focus on its profitable, go-forward locations. Earlier this year, RadioShack asked the term lenders for consent to close these stores, which the Company estimates would have enhanced overall EBITDA by about $83 million and created an additional $87 million of liquidity from reduced and focused inventory levels. They refused unless the Company paid significant fees, prepaid a substantial portion of their debt and agreed to other covenants and concessions that the Company believed to be unreasonable, even though these store closures would have clearly benefited the Company and its stakeholders.

Then, in late October, RadioShack requested that the term lenders consent to the closure of a smaller but significant portion of these same stores, but they again refused. Most recently, RadioShack repeated its request that the term lenders consent to permit the closure of up to 1,100 stores to provide the Company with a rational store base going forward, and yet still has not received their approval. For RadioShack, these requests, for months, have been about the Company’s continued efforts to transform its business, serve its customers and preserve the jobs of the vast majority of its employees.

Magnacca concluded: “It appears to us that the term lenders seek only to advance their particular interests at the expense of all other RadioShack stakeholders and will oppose any common sense business move requiring their consent unless the Company agrees to their exorbitant demands. The Company calls on them to rescind their notice and related demands and instead grant approval for the Company to take action that would benefit all creditors and other stakeholders.”

FORT WORTH, Texas, – RadioShack Corporation announced today several actions intended to maximize value for the Company’s stakeholders.

RadioShack has signed an asset purchase agreement with General Wireless Inc., an affiliate of Standard General L.P. (“Standard General”). General Wireless has agreed to acquire between 1,500 and 2,400 of RadioShack’s U.S. Company-owned stores. To effectuate this transaction and an orderly sale of the Company’s remaining assets, RadioShack and certain of its U.S. subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As part of this process, other parties will have an opportunity to submit offers for RadioShack’s assets in a court-approved process. The sale agreement is subject to court approval and other conditions. RadioShack’s foreign subsidiaries and its franchisee-owned stores are not included in the filing.

General Wireless, the entity formed to acquire the stores under the asset purchase agreement, has agreed in principle on terms with Sprint to establish a new dedicated mobility “store within a store” retail presence in up to 1,750 of the acquired stores. This agreement-in-principle is subject to negotiation of definitive documentation as well as court approval.

In addition, the Company has filed a motion with the Court to proceed with the closure of the remaining company-owned stores under an agreement with Hilco Merchant Resources. A list of the stores slated for closure will be posted in the near future on the restructuring information section of the company’s web site at www.radioshackcorporation.com. Stores that are closing are expected to sell remaining inventory.

RadioShack currently has approximately 4,000 company owned stores in the U.S. Its more than 1,000 dealer franchise stores in 25 countries, the stores operated by its Mexican subsidiary, and its Asia operations are not included in the Chapter 11 filing or the agreements announced today.

Discussions are underway with interested parties to sell all of the company’s remaining assets.

Joe Magnacca, RadioShack’s chief executive officer, said, “These steps are the culmination of a thorough process intended to drive maximum value for our stakeholders.”

RadioShack has made customary first-day motions with the Bankruptcy Court intended to support the continuation of its day-to-day operations for customers, employees, vendors and suppliers, and other business partners during the restructuring. As part of that, it is seeking Court approval to continue employee wages and certain benefits and honor certain customer programs. The motions are expected to be addressed by the Court in the coming days.

The Company has also secured a commitment for approximately $285 million in debtor-in-possession financing (DIP) from its current ABL lender group, led by DW Partners, LP. The DIP is intended to provide it with liquidity during the sale process. The DIP funding includes a roll up of the Company’s prepetition revolver, letters of credit, and FILO facility. In addition, the facility will provide up to $20 million in incremental borrowing capacity.

Pursuant to the auction process the Company has filed for approval by the Court, all qualifying parties will have an opportunity to submit offers for evaluation through a Court-supervised competitive bidding process. Any sale will be subject to Court approval and other closing conditions. There can be no assurance that a sale will be consummated at the conclusion of this process.

Stamford, CT and St. Petersburg, FL – As the retail industry dissects 2013’s holiday shopping results, GE Capital’s Retail Finance business and Kobie Marketing are introducing a new Integrated Multi-Tender Loyalty (IMTL) solution this week that leverages GE Capital Retail Finance’s 80 years of expertise and a leading customer engagement and loyalty technology platform from Kobie Marketing. The IMTL solution brings together credit and non-credit programs, so they no longer compete with each other or exist in parallel.

At a time when retailers look to differentiate themselves and deepen their relationships with their customers, GE Capital Retail Finance and Kobie’s solution aims to bring to market a fresh approach to retail loyalty for all types of merchants.

“Many retailers struggle with a lack of unified loyalty branding and seamless integration between multi-tender and credit programs, resulting in lower engagement levels,” said Toni White, Chief Marketing Officer, GE Capital’s Retail Finance business. “Our integrated multi-tender loyalty solution can help retailers improve their customers’ experience and achieve what consumers are looking for by analyzing the right data and using those insights to personalize offers that create the right emotional connections. Loyalty data—including store-level, SKU, and demographics—can capture the preferences of up to 80% of a retailer’s total shopping base.

GE Capital’s Retail Finance business has developed loyalty programs around credit, which, despite the economic downturn, have helped produce attractive results for retailers. However, many retailers weren’t experiencing the same results with their traditional, standalone loyalty programs. A study of two retailer loyalty programs found inverse results: the retailer with an integrated approach and a strong credit focus had year-over-year growth in member accounts and credit penetration for four years; while the retailer with a standalone loyalty program in isolation from credit had annual decreases in both categories. “Many of our retail clients were asking us to manage “both sides of their loyalty programs,” prompting us to bring an integrated approach and deliver one seamless experience that engages all customers, regardless if it’s through credit,” said White.

Mobile has also changed the way consumers shop and interact with brands, with 40% of Millennials researching products on mobile devices compared to 17% of Boomers. Millennials want to be engaged via their mobile device and are more receptive to messages delivered on this channel (60% visit social sites daily), while customers engaged across multiple channels spend substantially more than in-store only shoppers*.

Powered by Kobie’s Alchemy® technology platform, the IMTL solution delivers a unified credit and loyalty experience to engage the digitally adoptive and mobile-enabled Millennials, as well as traditional credit loyalty card shoppers. By optimizing economics and leveraging smarter customer insights, GE Capital’s Retail Finance business believes the new solution can help brands inspire customer trust and loyalty by delivering personalized offers and great experiences.

“Traditionally, retailers collect data from dozens of sources, but many don’t combine these sets of data to guide their marketing campaigns. If they’re not creating accurate customer profiles or compiling all behavioral insights and data in a central place, retailers are missing opportunities to drive incremental behavior and deliver on customer expectations,” said Michael Hemsey, president of Kobie Marketing. “The Alchemy® platform is scalable and flexible within different POS environments and enables retailers to create better experiences for their customers. We’ve integrated the technology to be available to all of GE Capital Retail Finance’s clients and provide a ‘single view’ of their portfolio,” continued Hemsey.

“As a customer-centric organization, our innovations are designed to put the customers’ needs first,” said White.

GE Capital Retail Finance and Kobie see their integrated solution – a significant advancement in multi-tender loyalty program unity – as delivering a better way for retailers to maximize customer reach, engagement and profitability, while broadening their customer base and overall member satisfaction. Retailers have the opportunity to democratize their loyalty programs while still providing a powerful, visible and integrated credit-holder experience.

“Together, we’re reimagining the future of loyalty, which is about choice, flexibility and personalization,” added Hemsey. “The platform provides the nation’s retailers with a powerful tool that can enhance the value of their loyalty proposition to consumers and change the way they engage and retain customers.”

This Press Release is courtesy of www.GE.com

NEW YORK, November 12, 2013 –The fiscal month of November got off to a positive start propelled by a number of factors – lower gasoline prices, cold weather and easy sales comparisons – which provided retailers with a healthy uptick in sales. Overall for the week ending November 9, 2013 weekly retail sales increased by 1.2%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a year-over-year basis, the pace of sales rose by 2.3%.

“Sales picked up in the first week of the November sales period as cold weather, lower gasoline prices, an easy comparisons with the Hurricane Sandy and likely some improving employment news all came together to spur demand,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research and chief economist. “But even with that said, the ICSC-Goldman consumer holiday tracking survey found that consumers may be holding off their holiday shopping a bit relative to the last two years at the comparable time, possibly waiting for this year’s Thanksgiving week promotions,” Niemira added.

For the month, ICSC Research forecasts an increase of 3.5-4.5% year-over-year gain with a bias on the stronger side due to the easy comparison with November 2012 and added shopping hours on Thanksgiving Day.

Week Ending Index 1977=100 Year/Year Change Weekly Change
09-Nov-13 544.6 2.3% 1.2%
02-Nov-13 538.2 1.9% -0.6%
26-Oct-13 541.6 2.2% -0.4%
19-Oct-13 543.8 3.2% 1.4%

The Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is produced by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. This index measures U.S. nominal same-store or comparable-store sales excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly index is constructed as a sales-weighted geometric average growth rate to preserve long-term consistency and is statistically benchmarked to a broad-based monthly retail industry sales aggregate that currently represents a sampling of leading retail chain stores, which also is compiled by ICSC. A representative sample of those major retailers has been used as a control group to extrapolate the weekly sales index. As such, the weekly index statistically represents industry sales and is not just a sum of sales for a handful of retailers. The standard period used for the index is Sunday through Saturday, even though some retailers use a different weekly accounting period. The weekly sales index is presented on an adjusted basis to account for normal seasonality and to counter other data anomalies. Weekly seasonal adjustment is at best difficult for chain store sales given that retailers can and often do shift promotions to counter typical shifts in the calendar. Nonetheless, the approach to weekly seasonal adjustment used follows from the Piser Method, which was popular in the early 1930s and became the standard for weekly adjustment.

Courtesy ICSR PRESS RELEASE

WAYNE, NJ – Toys“R”Us® today announced plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company’s workforce as it prepares for the busy holiday shopping months ahead. Seasonal staff plays a vital role in delivering upon the company’s mission to bring joy into the lives of its customers across the country as traffic in Toys“R”Us stores and online surges in the weeks leading up to Christmas. These seasonal positions, which include sales associates, stock crew and omnichannel fulfillment teams, as well as distribution center workers and department managers, can also serve as a path to non-seasonal employment.

“As THE toy authority, moms, dads and gift-givers are counting on us to provide them with expert toy advice as they search for the perfect present, all while offering exceptional service and a memorable shopping experience,” said Mark Eberly, Vice President, Human Resources, Toys“R”Us, U.S. “We’re looking for dedicated, customer-centric employees who will strive to help shoppers deliver a great Christmas for the little ones in their lives whenever, wherever and however they choose to shop with us this holiday season. Ensuring we are fully staffed with knowledgeable employees is integral as we look to assist customers in crossing off items on their children’s wish lists.”

Interviewing for holiday positions at Toys“R”Us stores begins at the end of September and new hires start working in early October. Staffing continues to build throughout the holiday season right up to Christmas. Seasonal store employees typically work 16 to 20 hours per week with flexible schedules offered during the week, weeknights or weekends. Employment opportunities are also available at the company’s distribution centers nationwide, which began hiring in July and will continue through November.

Interested job seekers can visit the company’s dedicated Holiday Hiring website (www.toysrusinc.com/careers/holiday) to apply and learn more about working at Toys“R”Us during the holiday season. The site is easily accessible via computers, tablets and smartphones.

Training #ToyExperts for This Holiday Season – And Those to Come

As a specialty retailer, part of what differentiates Toys“R”Us is its knowledgeable, toy-trained staff. Holiday hires receive the same specialized training as non-seasonal employees, as well as continuous, on-the-job training, ensuring they learn about the hottest products of the season, store services and more, so they can provide expert advice to shoppers searching for the perfect gift.

With substantial growth opportunities available, seasonal positions continue to offer motivated, high-performing associates the opportunity for year-round employment. Last year, 20 percent of the company’s holiday workforce – more than 9,000 employees – retained a regular position with the company after the holiday season ended. Some of those who began their careers as seasonal hires have also gone on to full-time management positions.

Interested applicants can keep up with the latest hiring news by visiting the company’s Careers pages at Ruscareers.com, Facebook.com/Ruscareers, @ToysrusCareers on Twitter, YouTube.com/Ruscareers and LinkedIn. In addition, from bike aficionados to gaming gurus, Toys“R”Us will showcase its team of #ToyExperts from stores across the country on these channels and the official Toys“R”Us Twitter account, @Toysrus, throughout the holiday season.

To download broadcast quality b-roll footage of Toys“R”Us employees in stores, conducting daily duties, as well as holiday hiring signage, please click here. For high-resolution photos, please click here.

For company news and updates throughout the season, please visit “R” Holiday Press Room.

About Toys“R”Us, Inc.
Toys“R”Us, Inc. is the world’s leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer, offering a differentiated shopping experience through its family of brands. Merchandise is sold in 877 Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, and in more than 710 international stores and over 195 licensed stores in 35 countries and jurisdictions. In addition, it exclusively operates the legendary FAO Schwarz brand and sells extraordinary toys in the brand’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. With its strong portfolio of e-commerce sites including Toysrus.com, Babiesrus.com, eToys.com and FAO.com, it provides shoppers with a broad online selection of distinctive toy and baby products. Headquartered in Wayne, NJ, Toys“R”Us, Inc. employs approximately 70,000 associates annually worldwide. The company is committed to serving its communities as a caring and reputable neighbor through programs dedicated to keeping kids safe and helping them in times of need. Additional information about Toys“R”Us, Inc. can be found on Toysrusinc.com. Follow Toys“R”Us, Babies“R”Us and FAO Schwarz on Facebook at Facebook.com/Toysrus, Facebook.com/Babiesrus and Facebook.com/FAO and on Twitter at Twitter.com/Toysrus and Twitter.com/Babiesrus.

PLEASANTON, CA and BOISE, ID – Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) and Albertsons announced today a definitive agreement under which AB Acquisition LLC (“AB Acquisition”) will acquire all outstanding shares of Safeway (the “Merger”). The merger agreement was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Safeway.

AB Acquisition is the owner of Albertson’s LLC and New Albertson’s, Inc. (collectively “Albertsons”) and is controlled by a Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (“Cerberus”)-led investor group, which also includes Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE:KIM), Klaff Realty LP, Lubert-Adler Partners LP, and Schottenstein Stores Corporation.

As a result of the Merger, plus other actions to be taken by the Safeway Board of Directors as described below, including the separate sales of certain other primarily non-core assets, and the distribution of Blackhawk shares, Safeway shareholders are expected to receive total value estimated at $40 per share.

Albertsons’ Chief Executive Officer Bob Miller stated, “This transaction offers us the opportunity to better serve customers by adapting more quickly to evolving shopping preferences in diverse regions across the country. It also brings together two great organizations with talented management teams. Robert Edwards and his team have done an outstanding job in positioning Safeway’s core business for success, by investing in its stores and creating innovative strategic marketing programs that contribute to shareholder value. Working together will enable us to create cost savings that translate into price reductions for our customers. Together, we will be able to respond to local needs more quickly and deliver outstanding products at the lowest possible price, more efficiently than ever before.”

“This Merger is one of several actions we have taken in recent months as a result of our strategic business review. The combined value of the transactions described above is expected to deliver a premium to Safeway’s shareholders of 72% from one year ago, and 56% over the share price six months ago,” said Robert Edwards, President & Chief Executive Officer of Safeway Inc. “Safeway has been focused on better meeting shoppers’ diverse needs through local, relevant assortment, an improved price/value proposition and a great shopping experience that has driven improved sales trends. We are excited about continuing this momentum as a combined organization. We look forward to working with Bob Miller and the rest of the Albertsons team as we proceed together on a path towards becoming an even stronger organization.”

Value to Safeway Shareholders

Under the merger agreement, Safeway shareholders will receive $32.50 per share in cash. Additionally, shareholders will have the right to receive pro-rata distributions of net proceeds from primarily non-core assets with an estimated value of $3.65 per share. The proceeds are from:

(1) The sale of the assets of real-estate development subsidiary Property Development Centers, LLC (“PDC”) comprised of its shopping center portfolio including certain related Safeway stores, and

(2) The monetization of its 49% equity interest in Mexico-based food and general merchandise retailer Casa Ley, S.A. de C.V. (“Casa Ley”).

If the sales of PDC and/or Casa Ley are completed prior to the closing of the Merger, the net proceeds from these sales will be paid to shareholders at or before the closing of the Merger in a special dividend. If the PDC sale and/or Casa Ley sales are not completed by the closing of the Merger, Safeway shareholders will receive a non-transferable contingent value right (a “CVR”), which will provide shareholders with their pro-rata share of the net proceeds from the PDC and/or Casa Ley sales, as applicable, subject to the terms and conditions of the CVRs. The PDC CVR will have a two-year term. The Casa Ley CVR will have a four-year term. If Safeway is unable to sell Casa Ley before the four-year expiration of the CVR, shareholders would receive a cash distribution equal to the after-tax fair market value of Safeway’s interest in Casa Ley at such time. There can be no assurances that Safeway will be able to sell either or both of PDC or Casa Ley.

Distribution of Blackhawk Shares

The Merger does not alter Safeway’s previously announced plan to distribute the remaining 37.8 million shares of Blackhawk stock that it owns to its shareholders in mid-April and prior to the completion of the Acquisition. Safeway’s shares of Blackhawk are contemplated to be distributed pro-rata to the shareholders, with a current value of $3.95 per Safeway share based on the closing price of Blackhawk’s common stock of $25.06 per share on March 5, 2014 and a diluted share count at Safeway of approximately 235 million shares. The final ratio and the value of the Blackhawk shares will be determined at the time of the distribution and will depend on the market value of Blackhawk at that time and the number of diluted Safeway shares. The Blackhawk distribution is not dependent upon the completion of the Acquisition, and is being undertaken for independent business reasons. The Blackhawk distribution is intended to maximize the value of Safeway’s long-term investment in Blackhawk, which the Board determined to be in the best interests of Safeway, Blackhawk, and the shareholders of both companies.

In connection with the completion of the Merger, it is expected that Safeway’s distribution of Blackhawk shares will be taxable to Safeway and Safeway’s shareholders. AB Acquisition will assume the corporate tax on the distribution of Blackhawk shares to Safeway’s shareholders. It is also anticipated that there will be a step up in Blackhawk’s tax basis in assets which could generate approximately $30 million in cash tax savings per annum for Blackhawk. On a present value basis over 15 years, this tax savings, resulting from future tax deductions, is valued at approximately $4.50 per Blackhawk share and $0.70 per Safeway share.

Stock Price Premium

The combined value for Safeway shareholders who receive both a distribution of Blackhawk shares and the aggregate cash and contingent consideration in the Merger, based on Safeway’s current estimates of the value of the contingent consideration, would represent a premium of 72 percent over Safeway’s closing share price of $23.27 on March 6, 2013, one year ago; 56 percent over Safeway’s closing price of $25.62 on September 6, 2013, six months ago; and 17 percent over Safeway’s closing share price of $34.10 on February 18, 2014, the day before Safeway announced it was in discussions regarding a potential sale of the company.

About the Combined Company

The Merger will create a diversified network that includes over 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants with over 250,000 dedicated and loyal employees. No store closures are expected as a result of this transaction. Bob Miller, Albertsons current Chief Executive Officer, will become Executive Chairman. Robert Edwards, Safeway’s current President and Chief Executive Officer, will become President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company.

Banners will include Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Albertsons, ACME, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw’s, Star Market, Super Saver, United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos.

The Merger will enable Albertsons and Safeway to implement operational best practices in order to offer customers an enhanced shopping experience and more competitive prices, while enabling the combined company to pursue industry-leading customer service in an increasingly competitive and dynamic marketplace. Realizing substantial cost savings will allow for investments that are expected to benefit customers, including price reductions as well as store remodels and refurbishments. The diversified network of retail assets, associated distribution centers and manufacturing assets will allow for a broader assortment of products, a more efficient distribution and supply chain, enhanced fresh and perishable offerings, and expanded private label alternatives for customers.

“Albertsons has successfully transformed underperforming retail grocery stores into strong performers by focusing on enhancing the local customer experience,” said Lenard Tessler, Co-Head of Global Private Equity and Senior Managing Director at Cerberus. “Similarly, Safeway has consistently provided outstanding value and customer service throughout the communities it serves. Combining these strong management teams will strengthen the ability of Safeway and Albertsons to deliver on a shared commitment to offering customers higher quality products at lower prices, which will undoubtedly yield positive results for all stakeholders in the business.”

Timing and Closing Conditions

The Merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014 following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including approval of the Merger by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Safeway common stock and regulatory approvals including expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. Under certain circumstances, if the Merger fails to close, AB Acquisition would be required to pay Safeway $400 million.

Regular Quarterly Dividends

The merger agreement allows Safeway to pay its regular quarterly dividends over the next 12 months, prior to closing, and to increase the dividend within certain limits, assuming the deal is closed during that time period. If the deal is not closed within 12 months, Albertsons can extend the merger agreement by an additional three months under certain circumstances. During the extended time, Safeway would not be permitted to pay a dividend to its shareholders but shareholders would receive additional cash consideration equal to 6% per annum on the $32.50 per share cash price for the number of days that pass during the three month extension until closing.

Acquisition Funding

AB Acquisition plans to fund the Merger in part with debt financing of approximately $7.6 billion, equity contributions from its current investors and their affiliates, partners and co-investors of approximately $1.25 billion, and cash on hand of Safeway. Safeway’s existing indebtedness is contemplated to be repaid at closing, other than capital leases and the company’s 5.00% Senior Notes due 2019, 3.95% Notes due 2020, 4.75% Senior Notes due 2021, 7.45% Debentures due 2027 and 7.25% Debentures due 2031.

Go-Shop Period

The merger agreement includes a so-called “go-shop” period, during which Safeway, with the assistance of Goldman Sachs, its financial advisor, will actively solicit, receive, evaluate and potentially enter into negotiations with parties that offer alternative proposals. The initial go-shop period is 21 days. For a 15-day period following the termination of the go-shop period, Safeway will be permitted to continue discussions and enter into or recommend a transaction with any person that submitted a qualifying proposal during the 21-day period. A successful competing bidder who makes a superior proposal during the go-shop period would bear a $150 million termination fee. For a competing bidder who did not qualify during the go-shop period, the termination fee would be $250 million. There can be no assurance that this process will result in a superior proposal. Safeway does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until its Board has made a decision with respect to any potential superior proposal.

Advisors

Goldman, Sachs & Co. served as financial advisor to Safeway in connection with the Company’s strategic review and the transactions. Greenhill & Co. has also served as financial advisor to Safeway. Latham & Watkins LLP served as Safeway’s outside legal counsel. Citigroup, lead financial advisor, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse served as financial advisors to Albertsons, Cerberus and the investor group. Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP served as lead outside legal counsel to Albertsons, Cerberus and the investor group, and Dechert LLP, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP and Baker Botts LLP served as outside legal counsel on antitrust matters.

Property Development Centers and Casa Ley

Formed in 2008, PDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway Inc., engaged in retail shopping center development and capitalizing on Safeway’s core real estate competency. PDC projects are concentrated in Safeway’s urban and suburban markets, and are predominantly located in California and Hawaii. PDC’s portfolio consists of 25 properties with an estimated three million square feet, and is comprised of 11 operating assets, nine projects under construction, and five projects in the due diligence and entitlement phases. Safeway will soon be initiating a process to sell PDC.

Safeway owns 49% of Casa Ley, the fifth largest food and general merchandise retailer in Mexico based on sales. Casa Ley is a private company, and does not publicly disclose financials. Safeway has begun discussions with the majority owners of Casa Ley regarding a potential sale of Safeway’s interests.

On a combined basis, the value of the CVRs is estimated in the range of $3.45 to $3.85 per share. The estimated values for PDC and Casa Ley are based on analyses that Safeway has performed with the help of financial advisors, valuations from independent third parties and market information. The actual net after-tax proceeds received upon a sale could vary substantially from these estimates.

About Safeway Inc.

Safeway Inc., which operates Safeway, Vons, Pavilion’s, Randall’s, Tom Thumb, and Carrs stores, is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States with sales of $36.1 billion in 2013. The company operates 1,335 stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia, 13 distribution centers and 20 manufacturing plants, and employs approximately 138,000 employees. The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY. For more information, please visit www.Safeway.com.

About Albertsons

Established in 2006, AB Acquisition LLC (“Albertsons”), which operates ACME, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaws, Star Market and Super Saver, and stores under the United Family of stores, Amigos, Market Street and United Supermarkets, is working to become the favorite food and drug retailer in every market it serves. The company is privately owned by Cerberus Capital Management, Kimco Realty Corporation, Klaff Realty, Lubert-Adler Partners, and Schottenstein Stores Corporation, and operates 1,075 stores and 14 distribution centers in 29 states and employs approximately 115,000 associates. For more information, please visit www.Albertsons.com.

About Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

Established in 1992, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the world’s leading private investment firms. Cerberus has more than US $25 billion under management invested in four primary strategies: distressed securities & assets; control and non-control private equity; commercial mid-market lending and real estate-related investments. From its headquarters in New York City and large network of affiliate and advisory offices in the US, Europe and Asia, Cerberus has the on-the-ground presence to invest in multiple sectors, through multiple investment strategies in countries around the world.

This Press Release is courtesy of www.albertsons.com

BENTONVILLE, Ark., — Sam’s Club, one of the world’s leading retailers and digital innovation pioneer, today announced significant progress in its rollout of technology that resolves a key member concern – waiting in line for receipt verification to exit the club. The retailer’s first-of-its-kind application of artificial intelligence and computer vision technology has been successfully deployed in more than 120 clubs since first unveiling it at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

Sam’s Club’s rapid deployment of its exit technology represents the largest-scale implementation of member-facing AI-powered technology in the retail industry. The retailer’s announcement of reaching the milestone of deploying at 20% of its clubs in the first quarter comes as other retailers have struggled to deploy similar technology at scale, with some abandoning efforts, just starting initial pilots or having no plans to enhance customer experiences through checkout and store exit technologies.

This new technology has improved the experience for Sam’s Club members almost immediately upon deployment. In clubs where the technology has been deployed, more than half of members are getting the friction-free exit experience. This translates to all members leaving the club 23% faster. Sam’s Club is uniquely positioned as the first retailer to not only extensively deploy this technology at scale, but also to successfully build, design and roll it out in-house, addressing member pain points in the purchase-to-exit process. Sam’s Club plans to deploy the exit technology to all of its clubs by the end of 2024.

The move to use technology innovation to drive a better member experience builds on Sam’s Club’s existing innovative digital solutions, such as Scan & Go™️ which the company believes is the most used mobile application in a retailer and/or restaurant in the United States, to provide members with a more convenient shopping experience and differentiate itself as the retail industry’s innovation leader.

“I’m incredibly proud of the innovation and dedication of our team to deploy this member experience technology at scale,” said Todd Garner, chief product officer, Sam’s Club. “Both exit technology and Scan & Go are driving new levels of convenience and raising member satisfaction among members. What distinguishes Sam’s Club from our competitors is our ability to seamlessly deploy this technology at scale across our nearly 600 clubs nationwide. Whether it’s a single item or a cartful, we’re revolutionizing the checkout experience.”

Deploying Exit Technology at Scale
Sam’s Club’s exit technology is used to seamlessly confirm members have paid for all items in their shopping carts – without requiring an associate to check members’ purchases before leaving the club. Before this technology, members were slowed by queuing at the club’s exit area to have member specialists review receipts and examine items in a member’s cart. Members said they want a faster and more convenient shopping experience and consistently rated the potentially lengthy wait times at exit – especially during busy periods – as a primary pain point in their shopping experience.

Now after a member completes payment at a register or via Scan & Go, a combination of computer vision and digital technology deployed in the exit area of the club captures images of carts and verifies payment for all items within a member’s basket. With AI working in the background to continually speed the process, this digital innovation not only streamlines the member’s exit, but also allows member specialists to refocus their time and expertise to assisting members and ensuring they have an enjoyable shopping experience. With AI constantly learning and improving across thousands of exit transactions at multiple locations, Sam’s Club said it will continue iterating and enhancing the technology as the deployment rollout continues.

Sam’s Club’s technology at exit is a natural extension of its use of digital techniques to enhance the shopping experience through Scan & Go, which allows members to use their mobile Sam’s Club app to capture purchases on-the-go and bypass the traditional checkout line in the club – and also use that same mobile technology at the fuel station and Café.

About Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club®, a division of Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), one of the world’s leading retailers, is a membership retail club offering superior products, savings and services to millions of members in nearly 600 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Now in its 41st year, Sam’s Club continues to redefine club membership shopping with its highly curated assortment of high-quality fresh food and Member’s Mark® items, in addition to market leading technologies and services like Scan & Go™️, Curbside Pickup and home delivery service in select markets. To learn more about Sam’s Club, visit the Sam’s Club Newsroom, shop at SamsClub.com and interact with Sam’s Club on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

New York, NY & Ridgefield Park, NJ – Samsung Electronics America and NOOK Media, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), today announced a partnership to develop co-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK tablets that feature the award-winning Barnes & Noble digital reading experience.

The co-branded devices will combine popular Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 hardware with customized NOOK software to give customers powerful, full-featured tablets that are designed for reading, with easy access to Barnes & Noble’s expansive digital collection of more than three million books, leading magazines and newspapers.

The companies are expected to introduce Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK in a 7-inch version in the U.S. in early August. The co-branded tablets will be prominently displayed along with NOOK eReaders and sold at Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores across the U.S. and online at bn.com, one of the leading e-commerce sites.

“We are very excited and proud to partner with Samsung, a world-class technology and tablet leader, to create customized co-branded devices featuring our valuable NOOK reading experience and digital content catalog for Barnes & Noble customers nationwide,” said Michael P. Huseby, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “Standing behind these great new devices will be the power of our 40,000 Barnes & Noble booksellers combined with our deep bookselling and retail expertise to provide sales support and personalized in-store customer service for our lineup of new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK products. Partnering with Samsung brings our customers great new products and evidences our commitment to our NOOK customers and growing our digital content business.”

Mr. Huseby noted that the Company will continue to offer its NOOK GlowLight™ and continue to provide customer support for its millions of customers. He added that the partnership is a major milestone in Barnes & Noble’s efforts to rationalize the NOOK business. Working with Samsung on co-branded tablets will allow the Company to reduce its exposure to the substantial cost structure and other financial commitments that accompany ownership of the hardware production aspects of the NOOK tablet business. Going forward, the Company will be able to focus on its proven expertise in acquiring and delivering the best digital reading experience to grow NOOK content sales.

“Samsung has had a strong relationship with Barnes & Noble, offering the company’s award-winning reading experience to users of Galaxy Tab products,” said Tim Baxter, President of Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung is dedicated to providing consumers with choices that best fit their lifestyle. So, we are excited to be taking this next step with Barnes & Noble to offer Galaxy Tab 4 devices that are tailored to the needs of their customers and enhance the NOOK reading experience.”
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 663 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store® (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 696 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK® and NOOK Store® are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.

About NOOK Media LLC
NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store® of more than 3 million (US) and 2.5 million (UK) digital books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps™ available at www.nook.com/freenookapps. NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products are available in the United Kingdom at leading retailers; NOOK content can be purchased at www.nook.co.uk.

For more information on NOOK, follow us on www.twitter.com/nookBN or www.twitter.com/nook_UK and www.facebook.com/nook or www.facebook.com/nookGB.

About Samsung Electronics America
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), is a recognized innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SEA delivers a broad range of digital consumer electronics, IT and home appliance products. Samsung is the market leader for HDTVs in the U.S and America’s fastest growing home appliance brand. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, cameras, home appliances, printers, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 286,000 people across 80 countries with annual sales of US$216.7 billion.

New York, NY & Ridgefield Park, NJ – –Samsung Electronics America and NOOK Media, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), today announced the introduction of the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK, a new large-screen version of the popular tablet that combines Samsung’s leading technology and NOOK’s extraordinary content and reading experience. This new big-screen co-branded tablet offers the best of both worlds: a full-featured Android tablet that’s optimized for reading and entertainment. With tools for everyday use and an amazing collection of HD entertainment, customers can connect to the world when they need to, and escape when they want. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 10.1-inch tablet is available starting today in more than 650 Barnes & Noble bookstores and online at www.bn.com and www.nook.com, launching at a special introductory price of $299.99 and including more than $200 in free content from the NOOK Store®, including a new assortment of bestselling books, popular TV shows, top magazines and apps.

The new 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK features the largest screen ever available on a NOOK. The new addition joins the recently launched 7-inch model to offer customers more choice for their reading and entertainment needs.

“With the launch of the new large screen Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK, we have a fantastic lineup of devices for our customers to choose from as we head into the holiday gifting season,” said Michael P. Huseby, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “Customers are telling us that they love the reading and entertainment experience on our new 7-inch Samsung NOOK and we’re certain that the addition of the stunning 10-inch model, alongside our popular NOOK GlowLight™ eReader, will ensure that there’s a perfect device for everyone in the family at Barnes & Noble this holiday season and beyond.”

See More of What You Love on NOOK’s Largest Ever Screen
The new device features Samsung’s sleek, ultra-light premium tablet design and all of the hardware specs of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. The crisp, brilliant and beautiful 10.1-inch HD display makes it the perfect device to enjoy books, interactive children’s books, magazines, games, movies, TV shows and videos, with long-lasting battery life to match. Weighing just 17.28 ounces and with a width of just 9.58 inches, the large screen Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK is designed to be comfortable to hold so consumers can easily read, watch or dive into any features or content, at home or on-the-go while still enjoying the 10.1-inch HD display.

“The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK combines an award-winning reading experience with leading edge technology to offer consumers an immersive way to enjoy all types of content,” said Tim Baxter, President of Samsung Electronics America. “We are excited to offer both the 7- and 10.1-inch NOOKs by Samsung to customers through Barnes & Noble’s bookstores nationwide, just in time for the holidays.”

Tablet Tools for Everyday Life
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK is a high-performance tablet with all of the tools that customers need to stay entertained, connected and productive. For the first time ever, NOOK customers can enjoy one of their most requested tablet features on a large display: built-in 1.3-megapixel front- and 3-megapixel rear-facing cameras for photos and video chats. The Wi-Fi® enabled device has the full suite of Google applications featuring the Chrome web browser, as well as built-in GPS capabilities for location-based apps and more. With the Samsung Multi Window™ innovation, customers can use more than one app simultaneously and share content between apps at the same time, like reading an email and finding a location on Google Maps. The 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK also features 16GB of built in storage, in addition to the expandable memory that is available with both the 7- and 10.1-inch devices.

Get the Most Out of Reading and Entertainment
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK gives customers an extraordinary collection of digital content to explore from Barnes & Noble. The expansive NOOK Store’s reading and entertainment content offers:

Over 3 million books including bestsellers, new releases, classics and enhanced titles with special content.
An extensive offering of popular comic books and graphic novels, as well as picture-perfect art, photography, travel guides and cookbook titles.
An expansive collection of best-loved children’s books – over 9,000 – including chapter books and a selection of picture books with a proprietary interactive experience.
The NOOK Newsstand®, with the largest digital collection of the top 100 bestselling U.S. magazines available for both digital subscriptions and single copy sale, and a vast collection of newspapers and magazines from around the world. Find reading tools like ArticleView® that lets the reader focus on the text customized to their needs, and the Visual Table of Contents that provides a quick scan of the entire issue allowing a reader to jump directly to any article or section.
A large collection of NOOK Apps™ featuring a wide range of uniquely curated titles for the whole family, including the hottest games, as well as lifestyle, productivity, news, entertainment and other apps.
A wide NOOK Video™ selection offering customers their favorite movies and TV shows from major studios and networks, available for purchase or rental.
Discovery couldn’t be easier for all types of content with a bookstore-like browsing experience, Your NOOK, and unique cross-content features based upon customer interests and relevant topics. Hundreds of NOOK Channels™ support expert content curation based on interest and sensibility. This popular discovery feature is powered by Barnes & Noble’s breakthrough recommendation system which combines its bookseller knowledge with advanced algorithmic technology.

Latest NOOK Software for an Even Better User Experience
Customers purchasing the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK will receive new NOOK software, which will roll out as an over-the-air update from the Google Play store starting on October 22. The update will enhance a customer’s overall product experience with features including:

New, cleaner visual design and user interface.
Fuller, more immersive shopping experience to help customers find their next great read.
New navigational tools that provide quick access between the shopping experience, the library of content, settings, the content currently being read and other key NOOK sections on the device.
Support for both portrait and landscape mode throughout the NOOK experience, including shop and product pages.
The updated NOOK experience will roll out to the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK starting in November.

Free with Purchase: $200 in Popular NOOK Content
Barnes & Noble will welcome all customers who purchase a new 7- or 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK with a refreshed content pack featuring more than $200 of free NOOK reading and entertainment content. Customers will receive four free bestselling eBooks including And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Two of a Kind (Fool’s Gold Series #12) by Susan Mallery and The Best American Series 2014: 12 Short Stories & Essays by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as well as an episode each of three hit TV shows: The Newsroom and Curb Your Enthusiasm from HBO, as well as Disney’s The Octonauts.

As part of the package, magazine lovers can also choose up to four 14-day free trial subscriptions from a selection of 15 popular magazines – including Cosmopolitan, The New Yorker, Us Weekly, People and more, and also receive the previous 12 issues of each title at no cost. Additionally, customers will receive a complimentary selection of top NOOK Apps including Cut the Rope: Experiments, Concise Oxford English Dictionary with Audio and Just 2 Words. A $5 credit will also help customers get started as they explore the NOOK Store. More detail on the free NOOK content offer can be found at NOOK.com.

Barnes & Noble also offers great content through its Free Friday™ program, offering a NOOK Book®, NOOK Video or NOOK App at no cost each week. Visit NOOK.com or the NOOK Store on a NOOK to learn more.

Easy-to-Use and Customizable
Intuitive and user friendly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK enables users easy access to recent and favorite content and to discover new interests across all content types in one place. Current NOOK customers who upgrade and sign in will find their existing library of NOOK content loaded and ready to enjoy.

Right from the fully integrated home screen, users can get customized recommendations, access the NOOK Store or browse the web. With customizable NOOK Profiles, every member of the family can create their own immersive reading experience, curated and tailored to their individual interest and reading preferences.

Availability and In-Store Support
The ad-free Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 10.1-inch model is available immediately in black and is launching at a special introductory price of $299.99 at Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide and online at www.bn.com and www.nook.com. The 7-inch model is also available for $169.99 after a $30 instant rebate in black or white. Customers can personalize their new devices with a number of NOOK-designed accessories including covers, sleeves, an anti-glare screen and more.

Experience the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK, alongside the popular NOOK GlowLight eReader, in a local Barnes & Noble store and learn more from one of the company’s expert booksellers. In store, NOOK customers receive complimentary, personal NOOK support with no appointment needed. While in-store, customers can also receive suggestions on what to read next, access free Wi-Fi, and enjoy the popular Read In Store program, which allows guests to read any book free for up to one hour per day, just like browsing the physical shelves. Customers can also take advantage of a full calendar of popular NOOK events, including NOOK Night workshops, family Storytimes, book discussion groups and author signings.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is a Fortune 500 company, the nation’s largest retail bookseller and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The Company operates 658 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store® (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers LLC operates 705 bookstores serving over five million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained by visiting the Company’s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

Barnes & Noble®, Barnes & Noble Booksellers® and Barnes & Noble.com® are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. or its affiliates.

For more information on Barnes & Noble, follow us on https://twitter.com/BNBuzz, http://instagram.com/barnesandnoble and http://thebarnesandnoble.tumblr.com, and like us on https://www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble.

About NOOK Media LLC
NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store® of more than 3 million digital books in the US and UK, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through free NOOK Reading Apps™. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products are available in the United Kingdom at leading retailers; NOOK content can be purchased at www.nook.co.uk.

NOOK®, the NOOK logos and NOOK Media™ are trademarks of barnesandnoble.com llc or its affiliates. For more information on NOOK, follow us on www.twitter.com/nookBN and www.twitter.com/nook_UK, and like us on www.facebook.com/nook and www.facebook.com/nookGB.

About Samsung Electronics America
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), is a recognized innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SEA delivers a broad range of digital consumer electronics, IT and home appliance products. Samsung is the market leader for HDTVs in the U.S and America’s fastest growing home appliance brand. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, cameras, home appliances, printers, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 286,000 people across 80 countries with annual sales of US$216.7 billion.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., April 4, 2019 — For more than 125 years, Sears has been part of the local fabric of American homes and lives. Today, as part of a new era, Sears announced plans to open three new Home & Life stores in May.

Located in Anchorage, Alaska; Lafayette, Louisiana and Overland Park, Kansas, the new Home & Life stores will offer appliances, mattresses*, home services and connected home products. The stores were developed based on insights from Sears Appliances & Mattresses stores that opened in 2017 in Ft. Collins, Colorado; Pharr, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. The store sizes will range in size from 10,000 sq. ft. – 15,000 sq. ft., primarily driven by availability of stores and the needs of the local community.

“The exciting new Sears Home & Life stores will carry power categories where Sears has a real strength: Appliances, mattresses and our home services business,” said Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart and president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands. “We are here to serve these communities and this is part of our strategy to maintain a presence in markets where we have right-sized our footprint. Sears Home & Life supports our strategic plan to become a stronger, more profitable business and these test stores will enable us to learn and improve as we move forward,” Boutros added.

The Sears Home & Life stores will be dedicated to the following categories:

Major appliances, including Kenmore® and other leading appliance brands, displayed in kitchen and laundry vignettes.
Mattresses* that members can try out from top brands, including: Tempur-Pedic®, Beautyrest, Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Stearns & Foster.
Small kitchen appliances and an assortment of vacuums, floor care and home environment products.
Connected Home Products– a curated assortment of smart products that are relevant to members, who also will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with reliable appliances that are compatible with Alexa and Google+.
Sears Home & Life stores will offer the power and capability of leading integrated retail services for which Sears is known, including:

A “Welcome” Service Desk: Members can meet with Home & Life experts to explore how new appliances would look in a full-scale kitchen. Artwork and photos in the stores will include images of the local community.
Sears Buy Online “Search Bar” Kiosk: Members will have access to the entire Sears ecosystem of products and services offered through the in-store “Search Bar” kiosk, where they will be assisted by a Home & Life expert. Their purchases can be picked up in store or delivered to their home.
Free Store Pickup on any item purchased on sears.com: Merchandise can also be returned to these stores if purchased on sears.com.
In-Vehicle Pickup**: Become a Shop Your Way member, shop online or in the Sears app and select in-vehicle pickup. We’ll send you an email when your item is ready. Park in a reserved spot at the store and an associate will be out with your order in five minutes or less – guaranteed.
Sears Home Services: This area will offer appliance repair, parts and accessories, as well as convenient solutions for members to shop replacement parts for any appliance. Members can also consult with experts about their Home Improvement needs and purchase products like windows, roofing, kitchen cabinets, countertops, flooring and more.
Join Sears on social media to hear more about the latest news – “Like” Sears on Facebook, and “follow” Sears on Twitter and Instagram.

*Mattresses not available at the Anchorage, Alaska store.
**In-vehicle pickup available at the Overland Park and Lafayette Home & Life stores.

About Sears
Sears is a leading integrated retailer providing a wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores, as well as through Sears.com. Home to some of the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S., Sears’ product offering includes Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard. Sears is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping program where members can earn points and receive benefits both in stores and online. Sears is the nation’s largest provider of home services, with more than 6,000 expert technicians who make nearly 11 million service calls annually. For more information, visit the Sears website at www.sears.com.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Sears Holdings Corporation (“Holdings,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SHLD) today announced that it intends to commence exchange offers (the “Exchange Offers”) pursuant to which it would offer to (1) issue in exchange for its outstanding 8% Senior Unsecured Notes Due 2019 (“8% Senior Notes”) new 8% Senior Unsecured Notes Due 2019, of a like principal amount, convertible into common stock of the Company, at a conversion price of approximately 120 shares per $1,000 in principal amount of indebtedness (or approximately $8.33 in principal amount per share), with interest on such notes to be payable in kind at the Company’s option (“New 8% Senior Notes”), and (2) issue in exchange for its outstanding 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Due 2018 (“6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes”) new 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Due 2019, of a like principal amount, convertible into common stock of the Company, at a conversion price of approximately 200 shares per $1,000 in principal amount of indebtedness (or approximately $5 in principal amount per share), with interest on such notes to be payable in kind at the Company’s option (“New 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes”). The New 8% Senior Notes and New 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes would be optionally convertible by the holders thereof, and would be mandatorily convertible at the Company’s option if the volume weighted average trading price of the common stock on the NASDAQ exceeds $10 for a prescribed period.

The Company contemplates that the Exchange Offers would be made under an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), exclusively to certain accredited investors (as defined in Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act), and to certain non-U.S. residents pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act, in each case who are holders of 8% Senior Notes or 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes.

The Company also intends to pursue (1) an amendment with the lenders thereunder, certain funds managed by ESL Investments, Inc. or an affiliate thereof (the “Lenders”), of its outstanding $300 million principal amount second lien term loan to include a feature permitting the payment of interest in kind at the Company’s option and to provide that the Company’s obligation under the loan would be convertible into common stock of the Company, on the same conversion terms as the New 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes, and (2) a negotiated exchange, with certain third parties (the “Noteholders”), of approximately $95 million in principal amount of senior unsecured notes maturing between 2027 and 2043 and bearing interest at rates between 6.50% and 7.50% per annum issued by the Company’s subsidiary, Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp. (the “SRAC Notes”), for new unsecured notes (the “SRAC Exchange Notes”) maturing in March 2028, which would bear interest at a rate equal to 7.00% per annum (which interest may be paid in kind at the option of the Company at rate equal to 12.00% per annum). The SRAC Exchange Notes would be guaranteed by the same subsidiaries of the Company which guarantee the 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes. The Company contemplates that the negotiated exchange of the SRAC Notes would be effected under an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Lenders and Noteholders have each indicated that they would expect to support the Exchange Offers and the respective transactions described in this press release and applicable to them.

The purpose of the Exchange Offers and the other contemplated transactions described in this press release would be to enhance the Company’s liquidity.

This press release is issued pursuant to Rule 135c under the Securities Act. This press release is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy New 8% Senior Notes, New 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes or any other securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such an offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. The securities referenced herein will not be registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold without registration unless an exemption from such registration is available.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences to serve our members – wherever, whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home to Shop Your Way®, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners across categories important to them. The company operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, with full-line and specialty retail stores across the United States. For more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC) has been named a 2018 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award winner for continued leadership in protecting our environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. In addition, the Kenmore brand has been named a 2018 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year – Product Brand Owner. According to the EPA, it marks the first time a company has won all three awards: Retailer, Energy Management and Brand Owner. Sears Holdings’ and Kenmore’s accomplishments will be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 20, 2018.

Sears Holdings, an ENERGY STAR partner since 1998, will be honored for long-term commitment to energy efficiency. The company’s related accomplishments in 2017 included:

Energy Savings: From February through August 2017, Sears reduced total store energy consumption by nine percent and saved 82 million kilowatt hours of power, which equates at an average rate, to almost $10 million.
Responsible Appliance Disposal: Sears processed and responsibly disposed of more than 182,000 refrigerators, freezers, AC units and dehumidifiers from January 2017 through September 2017. These efforts resulted in avoided greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 226,000 metric tons CO2 equivalent.
Product Selection and Sales of ENERGY STAR Products: From Sears’ sales of ENERGY STAR products in 2017, customers were able to achieve energy savings of 298 million kWh, $70 million in utility costs, 459 million pounds of CO2 reduced, or equivalent emissions of 44,000 cars. In 2017, SHC offered 849 unique ENERGY STAR certified models across categories such as lighting, appliances, consumer electronics, doors, windows, and HVAC. In Appliances alone, SHC saw a 9.5% increase in ENERGY STAR certified products over 2016 numbers. For the fourth straight year, more than 99% of our door and window installations were completed using ENERGY STAR certified products.
Training: Sears conducted its Home Appliance business sales associate product training road show in 2017 to educate its associates on ENERGY STAR. Over 1,900 associates were trained and gained specific knowledge on ENERGY STAR certified products.
Partnership: Sears and the Kenmore brand partnered with Amazon to launch major appliances on amazon.com. The launch and marketing materials have focused heavily on ENERGY STAR certified appliances and the majority of the products are ENERGY STAR certified. This is introducing the Kenmore brand and the ENERGY STAR Program to a new demographic audience. In addition, we continue to support ENERGY STAR with participation in ENERGY STAR events. SHC successfully upgraded two homeless veteran shelters with energy-efficient appliances, lighting, consumer electronics, doors, windows and HVAC. This event with Rebuilding Together and ENERGY STAR took place in advance of the ENERGY STAR Products Partner Meeting.
“We truly value Sears Holdings’ partnership with ENERGY STAR and are honored to receive the Partner of the Year Award in Sustained Excellence for the ninth consecutive year in Retail and the seventh consecutive year in Energy Management,” said Edward S. Lampert, chairman and chief executive officer of Sears Holdings. “Being recognized by ENERGY STAR as a retail leader only further increases our members’ trust in us to continuously provide energy-efficient solutions that meet their needs. We remain committed to continuing our work to help increase energy efficiency, to offer savings to our members, and to protect the environment through our dedicated efforts.”

“The Kenmore brand has been an iconic American brand since 1913 and has been a significant supporter of ENERGY STAR since 1992,” said Tom Park, president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands at Sears. “In 2017, Kenmore increased the percentage of total sales dollars from ENERGY STAR certified Kenmore appliances by over 7% compared to the prior year.”

“The 2018 ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year have demonstrated real leadership, showing how American families and businesses can save energy, save money, and reduce air emissions,” said Bill Wehrum, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

The 2018 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards are bestowed upon companies and other organizations demonstrating continued leadership in energy efficiency and commitment to the ENERGY STAR program. Winners hail from small, family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 organizations – representing energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial, and public sectors.

For a complete list of 2018 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards program, visit energystar.gov/awardwinners.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences to serve our members – wherever, whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home to Shop Your Way®, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners across categories important to them. The company operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, with full-line and specialty retail stores across the United States. For more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.

About the Kenmore Brand
The Kenmore Brand is an industry leader in delivering trusted performance in the home with smart and stylish appliance innovations that help consumers do things quicker, easier and better. Recognized as a top appliance brand for over 100 years, the Kenmore brand continues to give consumers more time, efficiency and improved results for better living with industry-leading products across small and large appliance categories. For more information, visit www.kenmore.com, www.cookmore.com/press-kit/ or www.facebook.com/kenmore.

About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR® is the simple choice for energy efficiency. For over 25 years, EPA’s ENERGY STAR program has been America’s resource for saving energy and protecting the environment. Join the millions already making a difference at energystar.gov. More background information about ENERGY STAR can be found at energystar.gov/about and energystar.gov/numbers. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500®—rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Together, since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped save American families and businesses over $450 billion and over 3.5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity while also achieving broad emissions reductions—all through voluntary action.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings Corporation (“Holdings,” “we,” “our,” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SHLD) today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) granted interim approval of all the Company’s first day motions related to its voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring. Collectively, the approvals by the Court immediately improve the Company’s liquidity position and allow Holdings to continue its business operations throughout the financial restructuring process.

The Court entered an order granting the Company authorization to access its $300 million in senior priming debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing from its senior secured asset-based revolving lenders. The Company also received authorization to continue paying employee wages and benefits, and to honor member programs including warranties and promotions.

“The Court’s approval of our First Day motions is an important step forward in our financial restructuring process that will allow the Company to continue operating in the normal course and providing our customers and members with trusted service,” said Robert A. Riecker, Chief Financial Officer, and member of the Office of the Chief Executive. “Our stores, online and mobile platforms, and related businesses are open and we continue to offer our customers and members the brands and products they want. We look forward to continuing to engage in productive discussions with our creditors and other stakeholders to pursue a plan of reorganization as expeditiously as possible.”

As previously announced, on October 15, 2018, Holdings and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Additional information is available on the Company’s restructuring website at restructuring.searsholdings.com. For Court filings and other documents related to the court-supervised process, please visit http://restructuring.primeclerk.com/sears, call (844) 384-4460 (for toll-free domestic calls) and +1 (929) 955-2419 (for tolled international calls), or email searsinfo@primeclerk.com.

Advisors
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as legal counsel, M-III Partners is serving as restructuring advisor and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC is serving as investment banker to Holdings.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences to serve our members – wherever, whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home to Shop Your Way®, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners across categories important to them. The Company operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, with full-line and specialty retail stores across the United States. For more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., — To help shoppers get a jump on holiday shopping, Sears announced it is now offering Black Friday pricing online at Sears.com. Sears and Kmart also lowered the minimum purchase threshold for free shipping on qualifying online orders to $25 (was $49), and launched a new CASHBACK in points offer for Shop Your Way members.

The Sears and Kmart CASHBACK in points online offer includes:

Spend $50, get free shipping + $10 CASHBACK in points
Spend $100, get free shipping + $20 CASHBACK in points
Spend $150, get free shipping + $30 CASHBACK in points
Spend $200, get free shipping + $40 CASHBACK in points
Use code: CASH*
“The Black Friday game is changing as shoppers want access to the best deals earlier, and we’re using the power and flexibility of our digital channels and integrated retail services to do exactly that,” said Leena Munjal, senior vice president, customer experience and integrated retail at Sears Holdings. “In addition, the CASHBACK in points offer is like getting free money to spend toward additional holiday gifts – when everyone could use a little more in their wallet.”

The holidays are also a time when Sears and Kmart see a spike in members taking advantage of their integrated retail services to make holiday shopping less chaotic and more convenient. Services such as:

Free Buy Online, Pickup In-Store, In-Vehicle Pickup: Members can purchase all products available on Sears.com or Kmart.com, ship to the store for free, then pick up their items at the store when they arrive, where they will be ready in five minutes, guaranteed.** Members can even choose to have their item delivered right to their car by using Sears’ innovative In-Vehicle Pickup service.**
Sears & Kmart Mobile Apps: The apps let members quickly find the right products and compare features, prices and user reviews; find deals, get digital coupons, and make the most of Shop Your Way FREECASH in points; make purchases, track orders, manage layaway, and access free shopping conveniences like Buy Online, Pickup In-Store, In-Vehicle Pickup, and free in-store shipping.
Free Shipping: Sears and Kmart offer free shipping on any order $25 or more, and Shop Your Way Max members get two-day free shipping on qualifying online orders.
Anyone, Anywhere Pickup: Members can order any item on Sears.com or Kmart.com and send a friend or family member to pick up the purchase.
Join Sears and Kmart on social media to hear more about the latest news – “Like” Sears on Facebook, and “follow” Sears on Twitter and Instagram. “Like” Kmart on Facebook, and “follow” Kmart on Twitter and Instagram.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading integrated retailer providing merchandise and related services and is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard — among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation’s largest provider of home services, with more than 6,000 expert technicians who make nearly 11 million service calls annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.

About Kmart
Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information visit the company’s website at www.kmart.com.

*Points credit to member account on Dec. 1 and are valid between Dec. 1-15. Max. $40 in points per order. Excludes delivery items including home appliances. Additional exclusions apply, see sears.com or kmart.com for details. By accepting Shop Your Way® member benefits and offers, you agree to the Shop Your Way terms and conditions, available at www.shopyourway.com/terms.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Sears and Kmart, two leading integrated retailers, have turned Cyber Monday into a weeklong savings event to make holiday shopping easier for Shop Your Way members and customers. Cyber Week deals start Sun. Nov 30 at 12:00 a.m. and run for seven days to Sat. Dec 6 at 11:59 p.m. on Sears.com/cyber and Kmart.com/cyberweek.

Plus, through the unique online/in-store collaboration between Sears and Kmart, members and customers can avoid shipping and conveniently pick up their gifts at more than 1,800 locations, ready in five minutes or less. Shoppers can look for items marked “Free Store Pickup” on Sears.com or Kmart.com and before adding the item to the cart, select Free Store Pickup and the preferred pickup location – at any Sears or Kmart nationwide.

“Schedules are tight around the holiday season. With free store pickup, members and customers have another way to get the hottest items of the season quickly,” said Imran Jooma, executive vice president, Sears Holdings. “For a full week, shoppers have the chance to take advantage of these great deals from Sears and Kmart while making sure all of the items on their gift-lists are checked off before it’s too late in the season.”

Sears Cyber Week Deals:

Save $80 on Kenmore Elite 5 Qt. 400 Watt Stand Mixers; sale price $169.99, regularly priced at $249.99
Save $30 on Craftsman C3 19.2V Lithium-Ion Hammer Drill Kit; sale price $99.99; regularly priced at $129.99, plus members get an extra 10% off tools purchases at Sears.com* (exclusions apply)
Save $530 on the Kenmore 25 cu. ft. Side-by-Side Stainless Steel Refrigerator; value priced at $819.99, regularly priced at $1,349.99
Save up to 50% on all outerwear for men, women and children; regularly priced $30 – $180, plus an extra 25% off using coupon code: CYBER25. Visit Sears.com/cyber for restrictions
Save 60% on select women’s fashion boots, including the Bongo Women’s Sedgwick Brown Buckle Booties; sale price $18.99, regularly priced at $49.99
Plus, Sears.com features more than 140 million items available via its fast-growing online marketplace, which recently added name brands never before offered at sears.com to one of the largest marketplaces on the web.

Kmart Cyber Week Deals:

Kmart is bringing back the best deals on the hottest gifts for the holidays during Cyber Week, including:

Save $100 on a RCA 46″ 1080p LED HDTV; sale price $349.99, reg. price $449.99 (available Sun. Nov. 30 to Sat. Dec. 6)
Up to 40 percent off Joe Boxer apparel for the entire family plus save an extra 15-25% off with code CYBER25 (available Sun. Nov. 30 to Sat. Dec. 6)
$78.99 Sportspower 4pc. Table Tennis Table; reg. price $139.99 (available Sun. Nov. 30 to Sat. Dec. 6)
50 percent off Hasbro games (available Sun. Nov. 30 to Sat. Dec. 6)
Save $70 on Craftsman 42 piece 1/4 and 3/8-inch Drive Bit and Torx Bit Socket Wrench Set, priced at $29.99, reg. price $99.99 (available Sun. Nov. 30 to Sat. Dec. 6)
Sears and Kmart offer best-in-class integrated retail options so members and customers can enjoy smarter and more flexible ways to shop including:

Free Shipping: Sears and Kmart offer free standard shipping on orders of $59 or more at Sears.com and Kmart.com.
Shop Your Way MAX Free 2-Day Shipping – Free 2-day shipping is available on qualifying Sears.com, Kmart.com, ShopYourWay.com and mobile orders for Shop Your Way MAX members to ensure holiday packages get to their destination in time.
In-Vehicle Pickup (Sears): Shoppers can select In-Vehicle Pickup for Sears.com orders and a Sears associate will bring the item out to the car in five minutes or less.
Free Anyone, Anywhere Pickup: As an added option to save on shipping costs, Free Anyone, Anywhere Pickup lets customers purchase gifts online and have friends or family pick them up at a local Kmart or Sears in a different city.
Follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook about Sears holiday at #MoreMerry, Kmart at #MoreChristmas, and Shop Your Way at #MembersFirst.

*Exclusions for tools: Must be Sold By Sears. Excludes As Seen on TV, Great Price, Clearance, Hot Buy, Smart Buy, Unilateral Pricing Policy items, items with an Online Only Price and Hot price items. Also excludes Portable Power Tools and Compressors. This offer cannot be combined with any other offers. Excludes DeWalt, Fathead, RoomMates, Extech, FLIR, Fluke, REVO, Tormek, Panasonic and The Uttermost Company Brands. Sears store price match is not permitted. Additional items may be excluded.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading integrated retailer providing merchandise and related services and is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through Sears-branded and affiliated full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard — among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation’s largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.

About Kmart
Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information visit the company’s website at www.kmart.com | Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com

As we approach the Christmas holidays and retailers brace themselves for increased patronage. Online retailers are especially concerned that shipping rates may rise considerably with announcements from DHL, FEDEX and UPS that they intend to increase rates for local shipments within the US.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.– Applications opened today for LadderUp, an innovative new accelerator program from retail technology company Shipt that will equip local retailers with tools needed to thrive in an ever-evolving marketplace. The program builds upon a set of commitments announced at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to expand access to food in underserved communities, particularly for those with mobility or transportation barriers.

LadderUp will support local economies by helping local small businesses, especially ones owned by LGBTQ+ people and people of color, grow and compete by providing capital, e-commerce-focused technical assistance, and education from industry leaders to businesses around the country. In line with their commitment to level the economic playing field for Black and other underrepresented populations, Shipt aims to have at least 50% of the businesses in LadderUp to be LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-owned.

“As a growing tech company that is putting food insecurity and equity at the forefront of its work, Shipt is proud to announce the launch of LadderUp,” said Kamau Witherspoon, CEO of Shipt. “Working with small businesses to build up their capabilities is a key part of our commitment to help create healthier, more resilient and equitable communities. We recognize the unique role that we can play in both combating hunger in under-resourced communities and boosting small, local retailers that are so vital to communities across our country.”

LadderUp applications are open today, February 6, through March 6, 2023, and small businesses in five cities can apply to be part of the program: Atlanta; Birmingham, AL; Detroit; Houston; and Washington, D.C. This opportunity is open to grocery/beverage, health, beauty, and floral/gifts retailers. If selected, small business owners will go through an extensive 8 week course learning from retail industry leaders on driving sustainable growth, building financial foundation, building efficiency, marketing, e-commerce 101, using Shipt, and the basic legal knowledge needed to run a business.

Upon completion of the program, retailers will have in-depth industry knowledge to help them navigate and understand trends in the evolving e-commerce landscape. Additionally, Shipt will provide each participating retailer who completes the LadderUp program $5,000 to help invest in their e-commerce. Shopify, a leading e-commerce company, is partnering with Shipt to teach a course in the program and provide no-cost access to their platform to help retailers build an online storefront, streamline operations, and optimize inventory tracking.

“At Shopify, our mission is to make commerce better for everyone,” said Crystal Hunt, Shopify Sr. Program Manager of Partnerships Diversity & Belonging. “To achieve this mission we must bring more voices to entrepreneurship. Together with Shipt, we are reducing the unique barriers facing underrepresented business owners. Through this partnership we will create community and opportunity for the change makers, disruptors and creators of tomorrow, because we know the success of a single entrepreneur can create a legacy, power communities and inspire the world.”

The LadderUp program builds on Shipt’s existing work designed to support the communities in which it operates and serves. In 2022, Shipt awarded nearly $250,000 in microgrants to organizations who focused on food insecurity, economic disparities and youth workforce development. Shipt works with national partners such as Feeding America, American Red Cross and United Way to help funding go even further in the communities that need it the most.

More information is also available at Shipt.com/LadderUp.

ABOUT SHIPT
Through easy-to-use technology and a network of reliable workers, Shipt connects personal shopping and delivery to 80% of households in more than 5,000 U.S. cities. Shipt’s app and website offer consumers access to a variety of stores and product categories including fresh foods, household essentials, wellness products, office and pet supplies. Shipt also helps power deliveries for retailers on orders placed on their own websites by leveraging Shipt Driven, a delivery-only last-mile offering. Shoppers and drivers on the Shipt platform are known for reliability and going above and beyond, including communicating in real time about preferences and substitutions. Shipt is an independently operated, wholly owned subsidiary of Target Corp. Founded and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Shipt also maintains an office in San Francisco. For more information, visit Shipt’s Newsroom.

SOURCE Shipt

CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT: press@shipt.com

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., — Shop Your Way, a free membership program and social shopping community with tens of millions of members, has announced a major expansion of its rewards program with the addition of more than 50 brand-name partners. Once the exclusive membership program of Sears®, Kmart® and Lands’ End, Shop Your Way has expanded to include more partners in more categories, making it possible for members to earn rewards through more places than ever.

“Members are already shopping for many of these products and services and now they can be rewarded for it,” said Eric Jaffe, senior vice president of Shop Your Way. “Our goal is to make it easy to earn rewards wherever you shop, and our growing partner network shows we are poised to deliver.”

Shop Your Way partners include BURGER KING® restaurants, Groupon, Avis Car Rental, Hearst Magazines, Budget®, 1-800-FLOWERS®, Red Envelope, LifeLock®, ScoreBig, and Shoney’s. Examples of everyday discounts and rewards include $25-$50 in points back on services; up to 10 percent back in points on events and entertainment tickets; and two-percent or more in points at thousands of restaurants.

Partners also frequently present limited-time member promotions, above their regular offers. For example, BURGER KING® restaurants just launched a limited-time “Burger Back” promotion that gives members up to $10 ($12 for VIPs) in Shop Your Way points on one BURGER KING® restaurant purchase using their eligible Visa or MasterCard (through July 31, 2014, may only be redeemed once per member).

“It’s like getting one entire Burger King meal back in free points,” Jaffe said.

BURGER KING® restaurants are among the partners contributing to Shop Your Way’s expanded rewards offering via the Card Link program; members register their eligible Visa® or MasterCard® debit or credit cards one time, then automatically earn points every time they make a qualifying purchase with a participating partner. Rewards earned from either program can then be redeemed on millions of products at ShopYourWay.com.

“At Burger King, we’re always looking for new ways to deliver value to our customers,” said Samuel Heath, Director of Market Intelligence at Burger King. “Partnering with Shop Your Way makes it even easier to choose Burger King. It’s ‘great fire-grilled burgers – with a bonus.'”

Additional opportunities for members to save and earn include: Groupon – Members simply purchase any Groupon deal featured on ShopYourWay.com/Groupon – including all of the same localized offers they’re accustomed to seeing – and they’ll automatically receive five percent back in Shop Your Way points; and Hearst Magazines, which is offering specially-priced one-year subscriptions to popular magazines like Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Car & Driver and more at ShopYourWay.com/Mags. Plus, members earn 4,999 points ($4.99) for each subscription purchased.

Visit ShopYourWay.com/Partners to see the complete list of Shop Your Way partners and to learn more about partner rewards. The Shop Your Way channel on YouTube also features an overview of the partners program.

About Shop Your Way
Shop Your Way is a free social shopping destination and rewards program offering millions of products, personalized services, and advice. Through a network of retail partners and service providers, members can shop, compare, purchase items and earn points to use on future purchases. Members also enjoy special pricing, exclusive sales, events, access to celebrity brands and sweepstakes. And through the unique social community on shopyourway.com members can research and browse products, create wish lists, poll friends and family and even get advice from experts to help choose the products and services that best meet their needs.

There is no minimum purchase required for Shop Your Way members to redeem points and points can be used toward purchases across countless product categories. Download the free Shop Your Way app available on iTunes or Google Play.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences to serve our members – wherever, whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home to Shop Your Waytm, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners across categories important to them. The company operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, with more than 2,350 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Shop Your Way’s ongoing effort to provide its members with unparalleled service options and money-saving benefits has expanded to yet another new category: live streaming video services.

Shop Your Way, a business unit of Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD), announced today a strategic partnership with sports-first live streaming TV provider fuboTV. This partnership will enable sports-loving Shop Your Way members to access the best-in-class video service, which includes more than 65 channels of live sports, entertainment and news content. fuboTV joins Shop Your Way’s ever-expanding ecosystem of partners and services designed to save members time and money every day. Members who subscribe to the Fubo Premier package will receive CASHBACK in Shop Your Way® Points totaling the first month of paid subscription fees, plus additional CASHBACK in points every month during the first year of paid service*.

CASHBACK in points available to Shop Your Way members who subscribe to fuboTV can include*:

$20 CASHBACK in points of first full paid month of service after the 7 day trial
$3 CASHBACK in points per month for the next 11 months of paid service for the first year fulfilled subscription term
These points can be used on millions of items from Shop Your Way partners such as Sears, Kmart, Lands’ End and at ShopYourWay.com.

fuboTV, one of the world’s fastest-growing subscription services, delivers an over-the-top (OTT) bundle of more sports channels than any other live streaming TV company. Customers can stream programming on desktop computer or mobile web at www.fubo.tv; mobile devices via fuboTV’s highly-rated apps for iOS and Android; or on connected TVs via Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV. After the trial, Fubo Premier is available at an introductory rate of $19.99 for the first month, and $44.99 per month to follow.

Shop Your Way members can learn more about fuboTV and sign up for the service online via shopyourway.com/fubotv, instore at Sears and Kmart, or via phone (800.991.8708).

“Cutting the cord on traditional TV has never been easier or more rewarding than with this Shop Your Way partnership,” said Robert Naedele, Chief Commercial Officer, Shop Your Way. “Our newest partner fuboTV offers the channels our members love, plus movies and incredible sports content – we’re giving members 100 percent of their first month of paid service CASHBACK in Shop Your Way points after they sign up. This partnership offers members new flexibility and personalization to their entertainment options with the everyday value they’ve come to expect from Shop Your Way.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to team up with Shop Your Way to bring even more value to our subscribers,” said fuboTV Co-Founder and CMO Alberto Horihuela. “We pride ourselves in providing fans with the most sports for the least money, and now are able to provide fuboTV customers with unparalleled access to the Shop Your Way network.”

fuboTV joins partners such as Uber and Meredith Corp. (the former Time Inc./Synapse) on the Shop Your Way platform, where tens and tens of millions of members can earn and redeem points on everyday purchases. It’s free and easy to become a Shop Your Way member and begin enjoying benefits immediately when you visit shopyourway.com. Download the free Shop Your Way app from the App Store or Google Play.

* Shop Your Way members will receive CASHBACK in points after they purchase the initial fuboTV monthly subscription and remain subscribed each month in order to continue to be eligible for CASHBACK in points during their first year of subscription. Points valid for 90 days. By accepting offer and Shop Your Way benefits, members agree to be bound by Shop Your Way Terms and Conditions available at www.shopyourway.com/terms.

About fuboTV
fuboTV is a sports-first streaming TV service that brings subscribers over-the-top (OTT) access to the most sports for the least money. This includes a growing line-up of national channels, local broadcasters and regional sports networks (RSNs) that hold rights to the most popular sports in the world. Officially launched in January 2015 as a streaming soccer service, fuboTV has evolved into one of the leading virtual MVPDs in the U.S. Its entry-level Fubo Premier bundle offers more than 65 channels, including up to 37 that carry sports, and brings customers access to popular entertainment, news and information content that complements the core sports offering, including more than 10,000 titles available on-demand. It is available on desktop or mobile web via www.fubo.tv; on Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick; Android and iOS devices; Apple TV; Chromecast; Kindle Fire; Roku; and through T-Mobile’s Binge On.

The company has raised a total of $75.6 million in funding to date, including a $55 million Series C round that closed in June 2017, led by Northzone, and including 21st Century Fox, Sky and Scripps Networks Interactive. Investors also include DCM Ventures, i2bf, Luminari Capital, LionTree Partners, Univision Communications Inc., Edgar Bronfman, Jr. (former Chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group), Chris Silbermann (founding partner, ICM Partners) and former NBA Commissioner David Stern.

About Shop Your Way
Shop Your Way® is at your service 24/7 to help you in the moments that matter. Whether it’s shopping your favorite brands, eating at your favorite restaurants, or simply taking an Uber to a party, you get rewarded with money-saving points that can be redeemed on millions of items across our Partner network. You can even connect with a free Personal Shopper to find everything on your list so that you can spend more time enjoying life and less time on the details. The benefits are endless with Shop Your Way, and they add up fast every time you connect. It’s easy – the more you do, the more you get, so start earning your rewards today.

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 2, 2014 – Simon®, a global leader in retail real estate, and eBay Inc., a global commerce and payments leader, together unveiled the ‘Connected Mall,’ a new, interactive directory to enhance the mall shopping experience. The ‘Connected Mall’ went live this holiday season at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. The immersive mall experience begins with a smart directory developed by eBay Inc. for the Simon Innovation Group, elevating the shopping experience by providing consumers with a suite of services, including point-to-point navigation and personalized offers and deals.

The ‘Connected Mall’ provides retailers a way to encourage shopper visits to their stores while also providing eBay Inc. and Simon with important customer feedback on how to better serve their needs. Shoppers will enjoy benefits from having a more interactive and personal experience to seamlessly navigate their shopping this holiday season.

Features of the new digital directory include:

A 72″ LCD, full HD, all-weather touchscreen viewable in direct sunlight
Mall maps available in 3D view, with accurate orientation of the shopper within the mall to their exact location, including the direction he/she is facing
The option to browse through the interactive map, events, services and store deals, also allowing a shopper to search for what they are looking for by touching multiple categories (food, services, retail, restroom, etc.)
Upon selection of a specific store or service needed, the interactive map will highlight its location and the best route
The shopper can then push the directions to their mobile phone and follow the recommended path to their selected store (International mobile numbers are accepted)
A “today” button that highlights events and deals happening on that specific day
Handicap feature allows the shopper to shift the orientation of the map and menu, creating a more easily accessible experience
“Simon and the Retail Innovation Division of eBay Inc. have been working on an exclusive basis in the mall space to enhance the shopping experience and provide retailers with a new and compelling way to engage shoppers,” said Mikael Thygesen, Simon’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We’re excited about our ‘Connected Mall’ initiative with eBay. It’s a great example of leveraging technology in a useful, relevant way in the mall environment, and we look forward to continuing to work with eBay on future initiatives.”

“eBay Inc. is revolutionizing shopping by bringing the best of digital technologies into the physical world. The ‘Connected Mall’ pilot with Simon provides shoppers with real-time retail information and deals that will shape mall traffic,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president of Innovation and New Ventures, eBay Inc. “This eBay Inc. technology and others will continue to provide consumers with white glove retail shopping experiences.”

About Simon
Simon is a global leader in retail real estate ownership, management and development and a S&P100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE:SPG). Our industry-leading retail properties and investments across North America, Europe and Asia provide shopping experiences for millions of consumers every day and generate billions in annual retail sales. For more information, visit simon.com.

About Stanford Shopping Center
Stanford Shopping Center is anchored by Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Macy’s Men’s. There are more than 140 world-class stores and restaurants, all in a spectacular outdoor garden environment. For more information, visit stanfordshop.com.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/simon-and-ebay-inc-launch-connected-mall-at-stanford-shopping-center-300003069.html

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. & BOCA RATON, Fla. -Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) and Office Depot, Inc. (Nasdaq: ODP) today announced that they intend to contest the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s decision to challenge the merger of the two companies. The companies were informed of the FTC’s decision earlier today.

The proposed acquisition would benefit customers, employees and shareholders, and the companies look forward to a full, impartial judicial review of the competitive effects of the transaction.

Staples and Office Depot will demonstrate that the FTC’s decision is based on a flawed analysis and misunderstanding of the intense competitive landscape in which Staples and Office Depot compete. In fact, the FTC’s decision to contest the merger contradicts its own unanimous ruling in the Office Depot – OfficeMax merger in 2013, in which the commission declared the market highly competitive. At the time, the FTC ruled that Staples and Office Depot face “strong competition” from “a host” of competitors. The office products landscape has grown even more competitive since then.

“This merger creates an unparalleled opportunity to better serve customers of Staples and Office Depot,” said Ron Sargent, chairman and chief executive officer, Staples. “The combined company would generate significant savings, and we’re committed to investing savings in lower prices for all customers. We’ll also use the savings to continue to invest in our people, technology and customer service.”

Roland Smith, chairman and chief executive officer, Office Depot said, “The combination of Staples and Office Depot is based on creating an organization able to compete in a vibrant market with strong regional players and powerful new national entrants. We are confident that this transaction is consistent with the 2013 FTC statement in the Office Depot-Office Max merger and intend to pursue legal options in order to complete this transaction.”

The acquisition is expected to generate more than $1 billion of net synergies over the three-year integration period as the combined company aggressively reduces global expenses and optimizes its retail footprint. The savings will dramatically accelerate Staples’ strategic reinvention, which is focused on driving growth in delivery businesses and in categories beyond office supplies.

The companies intend to show that the FTC underestimates the disruptive effect of new competitors in the digital economy and ignores the vigorous competition Staples faces from numerous competitors, including office products dealers, manufacturers selling office supplies direct to business customers, dealers in adjacent categories, cooperatives of regional players, Internet resellers, big-box chains and club stores.

Even though Staples and Office Depot disagree with the FTC’s interpretation of the competitive landscape, the companies proposed divesting more than $500 million in commercial business in an effort to complete the transaction and unlock tremendous value for shareholders and customers. The FTC rejected this solution, even though it would strengthen a national competitor, further enable a host of independent office products dealers, and help minority and woman-owned businesses compete for national commercial customers.

“This combination is good for customers. It’s good for shareholders, and it’s good for both companies,” Sargent said. “We intend to complete this transaction and to provide our customers with the lower prices and better service that they deserve.”

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) and Teen Vogue, the number one source of fashion, beauty, and pop-culture news for trendsetting teens, today announced a partnership to make more classroom style happen this back-to-school season with an exclusive product collection.

Beginning in July, Staples stores nationwide and Staples.com will be stocked with unique Teen Vogue products, including exclusive Staples BETTER® binders, notebooks, folders, pencil pouches, pencils, pens, compact staplers, lipstick and other die-cut erasers, sticky notes, clipboards, and more that make it easy for students to show their style and keep up with the latest trends. Staples will also be the official school-supplies destination for Teen Vogue’s annual Back-to-School Saturdays initiative.

“Staples and Teen Vogue are setting the style standard this back-to-school season so that every fashion-loving student can succeed in the classroom and keep up with the hottest trends,” said Scott Young, senior vice president, product and business development, Staples. “Students love school supplies that reflect their individual style, and we are excited to bring this trendsetting collection to our customers.”

The Staples brand product team and Teen Vogue editors worked together to create an exclusive collection of back-to-school supplies inspired by runway trends for 2014. The result is an authentic, fashionable, and functional collection perfect for any scene-stealing teen.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Staples on an exclusive assortment of back-to-school supplies for millennial shoppers,” said Amy Astley, Editor in Chief, Teen Vogue. “Our editors took inspiration from looks straight off the runway to create patterns and designs, so trendsetting students can now pair function with fashion both inside and outside the classroom.”

The Teen Vogue collection, exclusively at Staples, includes a wide assortment of products in four distinct style families.

Electric Jungle
Oversized animal prints in explosive colors are the theme in Electric Jungle patterns. Reinterpreted cheetah and giraffe prints mixed with metallics will make a bright splash in lockers.
Punk Prodigy
Punk Prodigy patterns showcase the attitude and rebellion of a fashion revolution. With graphic plaids, skull patterns, and medallions, the Punk Prodigy trend will make a statement in classrooms.
Rive Gauche
These fun and full-of-life patterns offer a contemporary twist to classic Parisian feminine dressing. From oversized polka dots and hearts to bright candy colors, the Rive Gauche trend will bring an optimistic style to school hallways.
Festive Floral
Soft colors and tiny floral prints show off a sweeter side. Mixed and matched floral patterns will bring a flirty sophistication to students’ school supplies.
Visit http://www.staples.com/teenvogue for more information. Media can visit http://www.staples.com/btspr for more news and photos throughout the season.

About Staples
Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop. Through its world-class retail, online, and delivery capabilities, Staples lets customers shop however and whenever they want, whether it’s in-store, online, or on mobile devices. Staples offers more products than ever, such as technology, facility and break room supplies, furniture, safety supplies, medical supplies, and copy and print services. Staples also offers free shipping for Staples Rewards Members, in most cases overnight. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. More information about Staples (SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

About Teen Vogue
Teen Vogue, a Condé Nast publication, a division of Advance Publications, which operates in 25 countries, is the number one source of fashion and beauty news for style-conscious teens and 20-somethings everywhere. In the United States, Condé Nast publishes 18 consumer magazines, two trade publications, and 27 websites that garner international acclaim and unparalleled consumer engagement. The Teen Vogue brand brings the sophistication and authority of Vogue to a new generation of savvy young women who desire to be on the cutting edge of fashion, beauty, and culture. Launched in February 2003, Teen Vogue publishes 10 issues a year and has a circulation of more than 1,000,000 readers.

Read more: http://staples.newshq.businesswire.com/press-release/back-school/staples-and-teen-vogue-partner-exclusive-back-school-collection-make-more-#ixzz354x1O0fw

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. & BOCA RATON, Fla.– Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) and Office Depot, Inc. (Nasdaq: ODP) today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Staples will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Office Depot. Under the terms of the agreement, Office Depot shareholders will receive, for each Office Depot share, $7.25 in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock at closing. Based on Staples closing share price on February 2, 2015, the last trading day prior to initial media speculation around a possible transaction, the transaction values Office Depot at $11.00 per share. This represents a premium of 44 percent over the closing price of Office Depot shares as of February 2, 2015, and a premium of 65 percent over the 90-day average closing price of Office Depot shares as of February 2, 2015. The transaction values Office Depot at an equity value of $6.3 billion.

Staples began discussions to acquire Office Depot in September 2014. The agreement has been unanimously approved by each company’s Board of Directors. With the acquisition of Office Depot, Staples will have pro forma annual sales of approximately $39 billion.

“This is a transformational acquisition which enables Staples to provide more value to customers, and more effectively compete in a rapidly evolving competitive environment,” said Ron Sargent, Staples’ chairman and chief executive officer. “We expect to recognize at least $1 billion of synergies as we aggressively reduce global expenses and optimize our retail footprint. These savings will dramatically accelerate our strategic reinvention which is focused on driving growth in our delivery businesses and in categories beyond office supplies.”

“This transaction delivers great value for our shareholders and creates a company ideally positioned to serve our customers and grow over the long term,” said Roland Smith, chairman and chief executive officer for Office Depot, Inc. “It is also an endorsement of our many accomplishments and the tremendous success we’ve had integrating Office Depot and OfficeMax over the past year. We look forward to bringing our experience and knowledge to the new organization.”

Staples expects to generate at least $1 billion of annualized cost synergies by the third full fiscal year post-closing. The majority of these synergies would be realized through headcount and general and administrative expense reductions, efficiencies in purchasing, marketing, and supply chain, retail store network optimization, as well as sharing of best practices. Staples estimates one-time costs of approximately $1 billion to achieve its synergy target.

Following the closing of the transaction, Staples’ newly constituted Board of Directors will increase in size from 11 members to 13 members and include two Office Depot directors approved by Staples. Staples’ corporate headquarters will remain in Framingham, Mass. and Sargent will continue to serve as Staples’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

In connection with the acquisition, Staples has obtained financing commitments from Barclays and BofA Merrill Lynch for a $3 billion ABL credit facility, and a $2.75 billion 6-year term loan. The closing of the transaction is not subject to financing conditions. Staples is committed to maintaining its current quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share and has temporarily suspended its share buyback program to focus on paying down transaction related debt. Staples is committed to a prudent capital structure that maximizes financial flexibility and supports a balanced and diverse cash deployment strategy, including the resumption of share buybacks over the longer term.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust regulatory approval and Office Depot shareholder approval, and is expected to close by the end of calendar year 2015. Staples will remain focused on its strategic reinvention plan, and Office Depot will remain focused on its integration of OfficeMax during this period.

Barclays is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Staples. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP are acting as legal advisors to Staples. Peter J. Solomon Company is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Office Depot. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to Office Depot.

Conference Call and Webcast Information
The management teams of Staples and Office Depot will hold a joint conference call and simultaneous webcast today, February 4, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss the transaction. Participants will include Ron Sargent, Staples’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Christine Komola, Staples’ EVP and Chief Financial Officer, and Roland Smith, Office Depot’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. To access the conference call, dial 617-399-5130. The passcode is 62894773. To access the webcast, visit the Investor Relations section of Staples’ website at http://investor.staples.com. A replay of the webcast will be available online at http://investor.staples.com.

Important Additional Information will be Filed with the SEC
Staples plans to file with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 in connection with the transaction and Office Depot plans to file with the SEC and mail to its stockholders a Proxy Statement/Prospectus in connection with the transaction. The Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus will contain important information about Staples, Office Depot, the transaction and related matters. Investors and security holders are urged to read the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus carefully when they are available.

Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by Staples and Office Depot through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

In addition, investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus from Staples by contacting Staples’ Investor Relations Department at 800-468-7751 FREE, or from Office Depot by contacting Office Depot’s Investor Relations Department at 561-438-7878.

Staples and Office Depot, and their respective directors and executive officers, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement. Information regarding the Staples’ directors and executive officers is contained in Staples’ proxy statement dated April 11, 2014, which is filed with the SEC. Information regarding Office Depot’s directors and executive officers is contained in Office Depot’s proxy statement dated March 24, 2014, which is filed with the SEC. To the extent holdings of securities by such directors or executive officers have changed since the amounts printed in the 2014 proxy statements, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. More detailed information regarding the identity of potential participants, and their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be set forth in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus to be filed by Office Depot in connection with the transaction.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release regarding the proposed transaction between Staples and Office Depot, the expected timetable for completing the transaction, future financial and operating results, benefits and synergies of the transaction, future opportunities for the combined company, and any other statements about Staples’ or Office Depot’s managements’ future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “intends,” “estimates” and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements, including: the ability to consummate the transaction; the risk that Office Depot’s stockholders do not approve the merger; the risk that regulatory approvals required for the merger are not obtained or are obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; the risk that the financing required to fund the transaction is not obtained; the risk that the other conditions to the closing of the merger are not satisfied; potential adverse reactions or changes to business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the announcement or completion of the merger; uncertainties as to the timing of the merger; competitive responses to the proposed merger; response by activist shareholders to the merger; uncertainty of the expected financial performance of the combined company following completion of the proposed transaction; the ability to successfully integrate Staples’ and Office Depot’s operations and employees; the ability to realize anticipated synergies and cost savings; unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the merger; litigation relating to the merger; the outcome of pending or potential litigation or governmental investigations; the inability to retain key personnel; any changes in general economic and/or industry specific conditions; and the other factors described in Staples’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended February 1, 2014 and Office Depot’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2013 and their most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q each filed with the SEC. Staples and Office Depot disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.

About Staples
Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop. Through its world-class retail, online and delivery capabilities, Staples lets customers shop however and whenever they want, whether it’s in-store, online or on mobile devices. Staples offers more products than ever, such as technology, facilities and breakroom supplies, furniture, safety supplies, medical supplies, and Copy and Print services. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More information about Staples (SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

About Office Depot
Formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, Office Depot, Inc. is a leading global provider of products, services, and solutions for every workplace – whether your workplace is an office, home, school, or car.

Office Depot, Inc. is a resource and a catalyst to help customers work better. We are a single source for everything customers need to be more productive, including the latest technology, core office supplies, print and document services, business services, facilities products, furniture, and school essentials.

The company has combined pro forma annual sales of approximately $17 billion, employs more than 58,000 associates, and serves consumers and businesses in 57 countries with more than 2,000 retail stores, award-winning e-commerce sites and a dedicated business-to-business sales organization – all delivered through a global network of wholly owned operations, joint ventures, franchisees, licensees and alliance partners. The company operates under several banner brands including Office Depot, OfficeMax, OfficeMax Grand & Toy, Reliable and Viking. The company’s portfolio of exclusive product brands include TUL, Foray, DiVOGA, Ativa, WorkPRO, Realspace and HighMark.

Office Depot, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://news.officedepot.com.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.– Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) today announced that “Staples Business Loans” has surpassed a million dollars of funding for small businesses. The quick and easy access to capital has helped more than 43 small businesses nationwide, ranging from a lunch wagon in Virginia to a medical writing company in Georgia to a construction service business in Ohio. The $1.5 million in loans is helping businesses expand, hire new employees and build for the future.

Financing and cash flow are major pain points for small businesses. Staples teamed up with Lendio, an innovative financial technology firm and the leading small business-lending marketplace, to deliver a suite of funding options that help solve these challenges.

Staples Business Loans is quick and simple with each business receiving individual attention. It offers more than 20 different funding options and the flexibility for businesses to use the money for whatever their business needs.

“At Staples, we’re excited that Staples Business Loans has already helped 43 small businesses get the right funding,” said Alison Corcoran, senior vice president, North American stores and online marketing, Staples. “We know that small businesses are the backbone of their communities. We’re proud that Staples Business Loans is helping business grow and helping owners make their dreams come true. We are committed to helping small businesses by providing everything they need to make more happen in their business through products and services they need including capital.”

A few of the recent Staples Business Loans success stories include:

Hit Medical Writing in Alpharetta, Ga. – Staples Business Loans helped the owner hire three more employees to grow the business.
Digital & Project Services LLC in Columbus Ohio – Received funding for future projects in low voltage installation and expansion into plumbing.
Bubba Nubb’s Lunch Wagon in North Dinwiddie, Va. – Helped owner purchase equipment and trailer to run a food truck business.
HiMacc Remodeling in Dunellen, N.J. – Received funding for future remodeling projects and cash flow.
Visit Staples.com/BusinessLoans to learn more.

Why Staples Business Loans?

The current funding process for a small business is time consuming, complex and often does not result in the small business actually getting a loan. Small businesses contact at least 3 different financial institutions for help and spend an average of 33 hours applying for credit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Small Business Credit Survey, spring 2014. Staples Business Loans allows small business owners to apply once and receive multiple funding options.

The new Staples Business Loans service uses Lendio’s great technology and eliminates complexity and frustration for small businesses seeking financing. It includes:

Broad set of funding products such as lines of credit, SBA loans, term loans, merchant cash advances, ACH advances, equipment loans, commercial real estate loans, factoring and more;
More than twenty different funding options for loans ranging from $2,500 to $1 million;
The ability to see all funding options available with just one application;
Personal attention from a loan advisor to guide small businesses through the entire process;
Impartial advice to help understand the pros and cons of each option so small businesses choose what is right for their needs;
Fast funding within days, not weeks.
Staples evaluated more than 30 financial services firms before teaming up with Lendio.

About Staples:
Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop. Through its world-class retail, online and delivery capabilities, Staples lets customers shop however and whenever they want, whether it’s in-store, online, on mobile devices, or through the company’s innovative buy online, pick-up in store option. Staples offers more products than ever, such as technology, facilities and breakroom supplies, furniture, safety supplies, medical supplies, and Copy and Print services. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More information about Staples (SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

About Lendio:
Lendio is a free online service that helps business owners find the right small business loans within minutes. The center of small business lending, our passion is fueling the American Dream by uniting the small business loan industry, and bringing all options together in one place—from short-term specialty financing to long-term low-interest traditional loans. Our technology makes small business lending simple, decreasing the amount of time and effort it takes to secure funding. More information about Lendio is available at www.lendio.com.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–Staples is the recipient of two prestigious HP Partner of the Year awards; U.S. Partner to Watch and U.S. Supplies Partner of the Year, both received at HP’s largest global partner forum, HP Reinvent.

More than 1,400 leading partners from across the globe attended the annual event, and Staples was one of only 50 partners to receive multiple awards. The selected partners are evaluated across a variety of criteria including innovation, category leadership across print, PC and supplier, distributor and re-seller categories.

“Our partnership with HP allows us to provide our customers with the best possible services and solutions, as proven through our recent commercial computing and print offerings including the next-generation A3 wide format multi-functional devices, and we look forward to continued alignment on strategy,” said Marty Robertson, vice president of Technology Solutions, Staples Business Advantage. “Being awarded U.S. Partner to Watch demonstrates Staples’ strong strategic relationship with HP and highlights our expertise in managed print services and commitment to growing our commercial hardware and services business.”

“Staples was chosen out of a select group of valued partners based on a variety of growth factors that were reviewed and ultimately determined by our channel leadership team,” said Stephanie Dismore, vice president and general manager, Americas Channels, HP. “Staples continues to be a strategic partner and HP’s largest supplies partner in the U.S. as well as HP’s top pMPS partner. These awards are perfect examples of what happens when we focus on aligning goals, putting the customer first, and driving strategic growth together, as we did with Staples.”

About Staples
Staples brings technology and people together in innovative ways to consistently deliver products, services and expertise that elevate and delight customers. Staples is in business with businesses and is passionate about empowering people to become true professionals at work. Headquartered outside of Boston, Mass., Staples operates primarily in North America, with additional offices in South America and Asia. More information about Staples is available at www.staples.com.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.- Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) announced today that the company’s Board of Directors has adopted a policy that limits severance benefits for senior executives. Based on the terms of the new policy, the company will not pay any severance benefits under any existing or future employment agreement or severance agreement with an executive officer that exceeds 2.99 times the sum of the executive’s base salary plus target annual cash incentive award, without seeking shareholder approval. In addition, Ron Sargent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has elected to amend his severance agreement to align with the terms of the new policy.

“Our Board is committed to responding to shareholder feedback and ensuring that the company’s executive compensation program aligns with best practices,” said Paul Walsh, Chair of the Compensation Committee. “This new policy is in the best interests of Staples’ shareholders.”

At the company’s Meeting of Shareholders in June 2015, a shareholder proposal regarding future senior executive severance agreements received support from a majority of votes cast. The Board carefully considered the results of the vote, as well as various perspectives conveyed directly by shareholders as part of ongoing engagement. As a result, the Board adopted a policy that is applicable to existing and future agreements.

About Staples
Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop. Through its world-class retail, online and delivery capabilities, Staples lets customers shop however and whenever they want, whether it’s in-store, online or on mobile devices. Staples offers more products than ever, such as technology, facilities and breakroom supplies, furniture, safety supplies, medical supplies, and Copy and Print services. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More information about Staples (SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

SEATTLE–Jul. 6, 2015– (NASDAQ:AMZN) – More than 90 years ago, holiday shopping found its official start the Friday after Thanksgiving, eventually becoming Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Over the years, Amazon has helped make Black Friday even more of a global online shopping phenomenon. Next week, Amazon turns 20 and on the eve of its birthday, the company introduces Prime Day, a global shopping event, offering more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Austria. On Wednesday, July 15, new and existing members in the U.S. will find deals starting at midnight, with new deals starting as often as every ten minutes. They can shop thousands of Lightning Deals, seven popular Deals of the Day and receive unlimited fast, free shipping. Not a Prime member? To participate in Prime Day, Amazon customers can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime at amazon.com/primeday.

“Prime Day is a one-day only event filled with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members around the globe. Members tell us every day how much they love Prime and we will keep making it better,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President Amazon Prime. “If you’re not already a Prime member, you’ll want to join so you don’t miss out on one of the biggest deals extravaganzas in the world.”

Shop Prime Day Deals from Anywhere

Prime members can shop across dozens of categories including electronics, toys, movies, clothing, patio, lawn and garden, sports and outdoor items and more. Members will enjoy deals on items perfect for summer adventures, their to-do list, family road trips, back to school supplies, and everyday essentials. Prime members can shop on any device, including smartphones and tablets and find deals anytime, anywhere.

#PrimeLiving Photo Contest
Prime offers fast, free shipping on millions of items, unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows, music and books as well as unlimited secure photo storage with Prime Photos. Today, Amazon also invites members to experience Prime Photos, one of the latest benefits and enter for a chance to win a $10,000 Amazon Gift Card in each Prime-eligible country, by participating in the #PrimeLiving Photo Contest. What is #PrimeLiving? Members frequently reveal how much they love Prime. Now, Amazon is providing members a forum to share how Prime helps enable some of their happy moments. Did you save enough time today to take the dog for a long walk? Did you finish your shopping while lounging at the beach? Did you create a family film festival at home? Did you find the perfect playlist to create a summer dance party? After a long week of work, did you still arrive in the perfect outfit with just the right gift? Take a snap, capture the moment. Members simply sign into Prime Photos between July 6 and July 15 to submit a photo on the contest page amazon.com/primeliving. Photos will be selected and featured daily on Amazon’s social channels leading up to Prime Day. One winner will be selected in each country based on the image that most creatively captures a happy moment of #PrimeLiving. Winners will also be invited to have their photos become screen savers on Amazon Fire TV.

Celebrating Prime Day
To launch the photo contest and celebrate Prime Day, local artists were commissioned in Prime-eligible countries, with locations ranging from Toronto to Milan to Seattle to Berlin, to create their interpretations of #PrimeLiving. These artists fully immersed themselves in Prime and then created public art that could be enjoyed locally as well as used by customers as inspiration for the #PrimeLiving Photo Contest. Find their work in an embeddable link here.

More to Prime
Amazon Prime is an annual membership program for $99 a year that offers customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items across all categories, unlimited Free Same-Day Delivery on more than a million items in 14 metro areas, unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, more than one million songs, more than one thousand playlists and hundreds of stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos and access to more than 800,000 books to borrow with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. In addition, Prime members in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Dallas, Manhattan, Miami, and London receive one and two hour delivery on a selection of tens of thousands of everyday essentials with the dedicated Prime Now mobile app. Not a member? Start a free trial of Amazon Prime at amazon.com/primeday.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Amazon Echo are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan, in testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, D.C., announced today that the company will be accelerating its implementation of smart card technology designed to dramatically reduce the threat of credit and debit card fraud among guests shopping in its stores.

Mulligan appeared on behalf of Target to discuss the company’s response to the data breach, its efforts to protect its guests and its continued support of industry initiatives to strengthen data security.

During his testimony, Mulligan said Target will equip its proprietary REDcards and all of its store card readers in the U.S. with chip-enabled smart-card technology by the first quarter of 2015, more than six months ahead of previous plans. The accelerated timing is part of a $100 million effort to put in place chip-enabled technology in all of Target’s nearly 1,800 U.S. stores.

“Updating payment card technology and strengthening protections for American consumers is a shared responsibility and requires a collective and coordinated response. On behalf of Target, I am committing that we will be an active part of that solution,” Mulligan said.

In 2012, Target became a founding and steering committee member of the EMV Migration Forum at the Smart Card Alliance, a cross-industry body whose goal is to facilitate the adoption and use of smart card technology.

In Tuesday’s hearing, Mulligan committed to working with the business community and other stakeholders to find effective solutions to the ongoing, pervasive challenge of cyber attacks. “To prevent this from happening, none of us can go it alone,” Mulligan said.

Chip-enabled smart cards contain a tiny microprocessor chip that encrypts the transaction data shared with sales terminals used by merchants. As a result, even if the card number is stolen in a data breach, the thieves cannot counterfeit the card. Similar technology already in use in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia has drastically reduced the incidence of fraud for consumers at physical store locations.

“At Target, we take our responsibilities to our guests very seriously, and this attack has only strengthened our resolve,” Mulligan said in his testimony. “We will learn from this incident and, as a result, we hope to make Target and our industry more secure for consumers in the future.”

This Press Release is courtesy of ww.target.com