Sharper Image Sold in Joint Venture

| MCM staff

Sharper Image Corp., which put itself up for sale last month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has been acquired by a joint venture led by units of private investment firms Hilco Consumer Capital Corp. and Gordon Brothers Group.

Penney’s Profit Sinks 50%

| MCM staff

First-quarter financial results for J.C. Penney Co. were a solid sign of these trying economic times. For the period ended May 3, J.C. Penney’s net sales fell 5.1%, to $4.12 billion, from $4.35 billion a year ago.

Godiva Goes Mobile

| Tim Parry

Godiva Chocolatier has a new flavor: Blackberry. The multichannel food and gift merchant has added a mobile channel to enable BlackBerry smartphone users to make purchases on the go.

From clicks to bricks

| Bob Armour

Today’s shoppers are spending more time online searching and researching products than ever before. As the Internet continues to grow as the first stop