Content about General Merchandise

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn — Beginning today through Tuesday, April 30, Bi-Lo will host its fourth annual PAWS "Feed the Love" campaign. "Feed the Love" is a pet food drive in which food donations go to local area food banks for families in need to be able to provide food for the four-legged members of their families.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Hispanicize 2013, the annual Latino trends event, has announced that Procter & Gamble will be the official presenting sponsor for this year's event taking place in Miami Beach from April 9 to 13. This is P&G's first year as the presenting sponsor of the Hispanicize event.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Elmer's Products announced today Elmer's School Glue Naturals — the first and only school glue made with naturally occurring ingredients and available in recycled packaging, according to the company.

CLEVELAND — American Greetings greeting card company has agreed to be taken private by a group led by some of its top executives for about $602 million, the company announced today.

The executive group was formed by the Weiss family — including chairman Morry Weiss; CEO Zev Weiss; director, president and COO Jeffrey Weiss and others — and will buy the shares of the company they don't already own for $18.20 a piece in cash. This amounts to a 13% premium to American Greetings' closing price of $16.10 last Thursday.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Late last year, Walmart rolled out the pilot program for a new mobile initiative called "Scan & Go" to 70 stores in the Atlanta and Bentonville, Ark. areas, where the company is based. Now, the mass merchandise retailer is expanding the program after a successful test run.

WASHINGTON — The American Cleaning Institute, in conjunction with Echo Research, conducted a survey of 1,777 Americans and found most respondents are spending less on cleaning products due to economic factors.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Post-it brand from 3M introduced the Post-it Mobile Collection, a new line of attach-and-go products for more efficient and effective organization for consumers on the go, the company announced today.

The new Post-it Mobile Collection features a variety of specially designed products to stick, insert and clip to everyday items. The attach-and-go products work together, allowing customization of a portable organization system.

NEW YORK — In spite of a court ruling striking down a ban on large-sized sugary drinks, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has another health initiative in the works: a requirement that retailers hide tobacco products.

Bloomberg's legislation, which would make New York the first city to keep tobacco products out of the sight of customers, will go to the city council for consideration. The New York Times noted that Bloomberg skipped this procedure with the soft drink rule.

WASHINGTON — The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is organizing more than 1,200 events across the country to promote smoking abstinence and cessation.

The group announced Friday the 18th annual Kick Butts Day, on March 20, in which young people will encourage peers to stay tobacco-free and educate their communities about the health effects of smoking. While youth smoking rates have gone down, 18.1% of high school students still smoke, the group said.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. has purchased two online retailers of cooking equipment in a move designed to expand its cooking and kitchenware business, said the mass merchandise retailer, which has lately made major investments in multichannel retailing.

Target announced the purchase of Cooking.com and CHEFS Catalog, both of which will continue to operate under their current names as a single, wholly owned subsidiary of Target. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

 NEW YORK — A new adventure from Thomas the Tank Engine and will be available exclusively at Walmart stores nationwide April 9, 2013.

The new DVD, Thomas & Friends: Railway Mischief, features five brand new episodes and a bonus, collectible “Calling All Engines” poster. There are also bonus features including a hide and seek game, a music video and a "Guess Who?" puzzle. 

The DVD will be sold for a suggested retail price of $14.98.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Post-it brand from 3M announces the launch of Post-it Big Pads, the company announced this weekend at the SXSW 2013 trade show.