Business Buzz: Babies”R”Us to open in Kohl’s and other business news of the week

FARGO — Oh, baby! Kohl’s recently announced that its Fargo location will be one of 200 stores that will get a Babies”R”Us shop-in-shop.

The openings will start in August and continue through the fall in advance of the holiday shopping season. The opening day for the Fargo’s Kohl’s at 4444 13th Ave. S.W. was not disclosed in the announcement.

The Babies”R”Us shops “will feature a curated assortment of the latest baby gear, furniture, and activity accessories” and more, the company’s news release said.

Kohl’s existing baby and children’s clothing and other offerings will be positioned next to the Babies”R”Us shop. The company will also offer an expanded Babies”R”Us assortment on the Kohls.com website.

The Sioux Falls West Kohl’s in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will also be getting a Babies”R”Us in-store shop. In Minnesota, stores in Duluth, Mankato, and the Twin Cities suburbs of Maple Grove and Coon Rapids will get a Babies”R”Us.

Retail Dive reported that in Kohl’s most recent earnings call that CEO Tom Kingburry said that baby, home, gifting and impulse purchases are a sales opportunity that could be worth $2 billion in coming years.

Kohl’s announced its exclusive partnership plans with WHP Global-owned Babies”R”Us in March, Retail Dive reported. The shops will range in size from 750 square feet to 2,500 square feet.

The Babies”R”Us deal builds on other shop-in-shop experiences at Kohl’s, including a

partnership with Sephora

, Retail Dive reports.

FARGO — The North Dakota Department of Commerce Legacy Investment for Technology Loan Fund (LIFT) Committee has awarded a $750,000 in funding to Fargo-based Blue Water Resolute. The funds will be used for developing hydrogen fuel cell microgrid technology. Their existing products include the Oncore Energy and Oncore Microgrid hydrogen fuel cell systems.

LIFT is an innovation loan fund supporting technology advancement by providing financing for commercialization of intellectual property within the state of North Dakota.

Commerce works with the Bank of North Dakota to manage and administer the loan fund. LIFT loan terms include 0% interest for the first three years of the loan, and 2% interest for the next two years, and an interest rate equal to a standard Bank of North Dakota loan for all subsequent years. The program is open to North Dakota companies working in advanced computing and data management, agriculture technology, autonomous and unmanned vehicles and technologies, energy, health care, value-added agriculture, value-added energy, and any area specifically identified by the LIFT committee as contributing to the diversification of the state’s economy.  

With this investment, the LIFT Committee has exhausted its available funds and is not currently accepting applications.

Contributed / Grand Farm

Fargo — During the Cultivate Conference June 13, representatives of Fukaya City, Japan, announced plans to partner with Grand Farm. Fukaya City is known for creating Deep Valley, Japan’s leading AgTech ecosystem. Reps see this collaboration as a significant step toward international innovation in agriculture.

“We are honored to enter into a partnership with Grand Farm, a leading AgTech ecosystem builder in the United States,” said Takahiro Fukushima, representative of Fukaya City. “We recognize that there are differences in the characteristics of AgTech in the American and Japanese markets. By complementing each other in these differences, we aim to continuously develop the AgTech ecosystem in both countries. We look forward to collaborating with Grand Farm in the future.”

Grand Farm is designed around building a global ecosystem around innovation in agriculture. Andrew Jason, ecosystem director of Grand Farm, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership. “Over the last few years, we’ve had the pleasure of learning about the robust Japanese AgTech ecosystem and how Fukaya City and Deep Valley are going to be leaders for that ecosystem. We’re so excited to build a bridge between North Dakota and Japan to support AgTech startups. None of this innovation is possible without this type of collaboration.”

According to the North Dakota Trade Office, Japan has consistently ranked among the top 10 markets for North Dakota in both imports and exports over the past decade. “Japan has emerged as one of the largest sources of FDI [foreign direct investment] in the state,” said Drew Combs, Executive Director at the North Dakota Trade Office. “In 2022, numerous companies from North Dakota had the opportunity to participate in a governor-led trade and investment mission to Japan to further nurture this enduring relationship. Grand Farm is playing a pivotal role in enhancing ties with Japan in the AgTech sector through this collaboration. We eagerly anticipate observing how Grand Farm will continue to cultivate and expand opportunities.”

Learn more about Grand Farm and Deep Valley:

https://grandfarm.com/

and

https://deep-valley.jp/