Retail Roundup: Barnes & Noble, Target, Lady Gaga and Barneys

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-- Liberty Media has dropped its plan to buy Barnes & Noble and instead has invested $204 million in the bookstore chain. Under the terms of the deal, Liberty purchased preferred stock, convertible into about 12 million shares or 16.6% of the company’s common stock at a price of $17 a share.

The investment was approved by Barnes & Noble’s board of directors following a recommendation and closed Thursday.

-- Target will relaunch its website next week, an overhaul more than two years in the making. The move is intended to drive more sales to the discount giant’s website and make the Internet shopping experience more similar to its in-store experience. As part of the relaunch, Target will bring its online operations in-house; it had previously outsourced much of its Web operations.

-- Sure it’s still summertime, but it’s never too early to begin thinking about the holidays. This week Barneys New York announced that it would be partnering with Lady Gaga for a holiday campaign called ‘Gaga’s Workshop.’ Our friends over in The Times’ Image section say the pop star will design a limited edition collection of small gift items that will be available at all Barneys locations nationwide and online; there will also be a Gaga-inspired window display at the retailer’s New York store.

-- Andrea Chang