Beth Cox

Internet postage firm Stamps.com Inc. said it is selling its iShip multi-carrier shipping service assets to United Parcel Service Inc. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Stamps.com said the move is part of a strategy announced last month to focus the company’s attention on its core mailing and shipping services for small businesses and home offices. Financial terms […]

Little in the world of retail is as competitive as selling used cars, where the slightest gimmick can mean a sale, online or off. So you have to hand it to CarDay.com – they just launched a guerrilla marketing campaign that has their employees out on foot, combing through parking lots looking for new business. […]

French media and communications company Vivendi Universal agreed to pay $5 a share to buy MP3.com Inc. , whose stock closed Friday at $3.01. Vivendi said that it will acquire San Diego-based MP3 for $372 million and will use the company’s assets to reinforce its digital efforts in online music, subscriptions, branding and technology. The […]

Reporting its first quarter results, Toys `R’ Us Inc. , said that sales at Toysrus.com more than tripled and that it will be migrating its Babiesrus.com e-tail operation to Amazon.com this month in a reprise of the deal that it worked with the online giant last August. The toy company said that online sales were […]

In a move that provides some revenue stream diversification, e-tailing giant Amazon.com has launched an ad-backed, free-to-the-consumer service that provides moviegoers with recommendations, theater showtimes and candid ratings by ordinary viewers. Amazon said it will work with major movie studios to help promote new films from the get-go. Cross-selling opportunities include movie-related books and music […]

Pittsfield, Mass.-based KB Toys, which bought the remaining inventory from the bankrupt eToys in April, said today that it is spending another $3.35 million “for certain eToys intellectual property assets and services.” Privately held KB says it is the nation’s largest combined mall-based and online specialty toy retailer. The assets purchased today include eToys’ trade […]

Westlake Village, Calif.-based Homestore.com Inc., operator of REALTOR.com, launched an opt-in tool that lets Web home shoppers anonymously share the details of search operations with real estate agents. Agents can then put together customized offers for these consumers based on their demonstrated interests. The consumer is only identified once he or she initiates contact in […]

New York City-based online bookseller Barnes & Noble.com named its chief financial officer, Marie J. Toulantis, as its president and chief operating officer, a new position at the company. She will be responsible for merchandising, marketing, engineering and product development. She had been CFO since April of 1999. Treasurer Kevin Frain was named vice president […]

In a move that seems almost like a no-brainer, auction space leader eBay said it will sponsor the television program “Antiques Roadshow,” produced by WGBH in Boston and rated as the PBS network’s most-watched prime time series. Spending details were not disclosed, but San Jose, Calif.-based eBay said it is the first Internet company to […]

Priceline.com’s decision to oust its former CEO, Daniel Schulman, will result in a charge of approximately $5.8 million in the second quarter of 2001, the name-your-price e-commerce company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Priceline named its chairman, Richard S. Braddock, to replace Schulman on May 8. The company said in […]

German media company Bertelsmann AG is rolling its money-losing BOL.com online book sales unit into its considerably larger book and music club business in a cost-cutting move that reflects intense competition from Amazon.com. The action includes the closing of the London headquarters as well as its Danish and Norwegian operations. Job cuts are expected but […]

Covisint, the e-business exchange for the automotive industry, selected Exodus Communications Inc. for global Internet hosting and went with Sun Microsystems Inc. as the primary UNIX platform provider to power its Web, application and database servers Santa Clara, Calif.-based Exodus said it was tapped to provide Covisint’s infrastructure, including a hosting solution serving multiple global […]