Seeking measurability and concrete ROI, more national marketers are shifting their dollars away from brand-building efforts to direct response promotional channels,

Two years after the former Boise Cascade Corp. acquired

Novato, CA-based TravelSmith, a catalog and online merchant of men

In the same Jan. 12 press release in which it announced a 12% rise in holiday sales, Williams-Sonoma said that it would phase out its Hold Everything brand.

In its largest purchase since it was founded in 1978, Atlanta-based Home Depot acquired Hughes Supply, a $4.42 billion distributor of construction materials and products, for $3.47 billion.

On the heels of a profitable 2005, Madison, WI-based Guild.com has 7 million reasons to start off the new year with a bang. Two venture capital firms, New York-based Dolphin Equity Partners and San Francisco-based Equity Partners, have partnered to provide the purveyor of artworks and artisan decor and jewelry with $7 million in funding.