Walmart buys out plus-size clothier
Walmart Inc. has added to its portfolio of online brands with the acquisition of plus-size women's clothing company Eloquii, the company said Tuesday.
The Bentonville retailer is not commenting on the price of the acquisition, a Walmart spokesman said. Technology news website Recode, citing a person familiar with the acquisition, reported Walmart paid $100 million for the company that sells mainly through its website and five stores.
The spokesman said the deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
Eloquii, which carries on-trend clothing starting at size 14, will remain based in Long Island City, N.Y., and Columbus, Ohio. As part of Walmart's U.S. e-commerce division, Eloquii Chief Executive Officer Mariah Chase will report to Andy Dunn, the division's senior vice president of digital consumer brands.
Dunn sold his men's clothing company Bonobos to Walmart last year for $310 million.
-- Serenah McKay
Event invites alumni of Hot Springs school
The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs will hold what it calls the inaugural Alumni Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship on Thursday and Friday at the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The school's alumni will meet with representatives from the governor's office, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Arkansas Department of Labor, venture capitalists and others of the Arkansas entrepreneurial network to participate in panels and discussions.
A dinner with Gov. Asa Hutchinson will be held Thursday for participants at the Governor's Mansion.
Participants will include out-of-state alumni with successful enterprises, alumni in Arkansas with businesses or who are in leadership positions, and alumni nearing completion of their studies who are seeking careers in Arkansas.
-- David Smith
Index falls by 7.03 as Acxiom departs
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 7.03 to 451.51 Tuesday.
"Another mixed close for stocks on Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 120 points hitting an all-time high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq exchange finished slightly lower," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
The sale of Acxiom to InterPublic Group closed Monday, dropping Acxiom from the Arkansas Index. Acxiom shares were converted to stand-alone company LiveRamp, a former division of Acxiom.* They began trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RAMP, and fell 3.7 percent to close at $46.69.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 10/03/2018
*CORRECTION: San Francisco-based LiveRamp is a former division of Acxiom. The parent company was incorrectly identified in a previous version of this article.