Deluxe Corporation, which provides customer loyalty and retention programs and other marketing services as well as promotional products and printed items to small businesses and financial institutions, has announced two acquisitions intended to expand its small business Web services customer base. Deluxe's Hostopia unit has signed a definitive agreement to purchase certain assets of Aplus.net and completed the purchase of search engine marketing firm MerchEngines. Deluxe will pay approximately $30 million for these companies.

Lawn care products manufacturer The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company said it will cease operating its Smith & Hawken business by the end of the calendar year. Orders via the Web site, catalog and call center are being discontinued effective today and all stores are expected to close within six months. Scotts had initially pursued plans to sell the upscale garden products catalog and retail business.

Wanda Gierhart has been named SVP and CMO at The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and will be responsible for marketing, market research, advertising, sales promotion and customer insight activities for Neiman Marcus Stores, Neiman Marcus Direct and Bergdorf Goodman. Gierhart, who will begin in her new role on August 10, will report to Karen Katz, president and CEO of Neiman Marcus Stores and EVP at The Neiman Marcus Group.

Direct mail production and printing services provider Johnson & Quin has acquired certain assets of Staples Print Solutions' direct mail division InteliMail. The deal brings Johnson & Quin customers in the financial services, retail and government arenas as well as additional bindery, lettershop and affixing capabilities.

Seeing an opportunity to bring innovation to the areas of data accuracy, analytics and marketing databases for the catalog industry, CognitiveData, which was acquired by Merkle in May and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the database marketing agency, is acquiring catalog marketing services firm CMS Direct. CognitiveData and CMS have been working together since 2006, when they formed a strategic partnership. At the time, CMS began incorporating CognitiveData's data accuracy technology into its list processing and data processing environment.

Multichannel home furnishings merchant Design Within Reach Inc. has notified the NASDAQ Stock Market of its intent to voluntarily delist its common stock from NASDAQ. While the company reports that it has not received a formal notice from NASDAQ that it has failed to comply with listing standards, Design Within Reach said in a statement that it has struggled to maintain compliance with NASDAQ's minimum required bid price of $1 per share.

Ken Hicks is leaving his position as president and chief merchandising officer at JC Penney Co. Inc. to become president and CEO at specialty retailer Foot Locker Inc. JC Penney said Hicks, who has held his position there since 2005, will serve his last day on July 6. Myron Ullman, chairman and CEO, will assume Hicks' responsibilities while an executive search is being conducted. Hicks will also resign his position on the JC Penney board of directors.

Dress Barn Inc. and Tween Brands Inc. have entered into a definitive merger agreement. In the stock-for-stock transaction, a subsidiary of Dress Barn will merge with Tween Brands. Each share of the latter's common stock will be exchanged for 0.47 shares of Dress Barn common stock, representing an equity value of approximately $157 million based on June 24 closing stock prices for both companies. Upon closing of the transaction, Tween Brands stockholders are expected to own approximately 16% of Dress Barn.

Digital River Inc. has introduced a new e-commerce platform designed to optimize the online sales of limited-edition and clearance merchandise for manufacturers. "Companies are looking for additional sources of revenue," said Matt Voda, group VP and product manager at Digital River. As a result, the traditional scenario that saw manufacturers liquidating left over inventory through a third-party isn't as appealing as it once was.

Customer acquisition agency SendTec Inc. recently filed a Chap. 11 petition voluntarily in the US Bankruptcy Court. Concurrent with the filing, the court has received an offer led by management and a group of outside investment firms to purchase assets and continue operations in a new company.