FedEx Acquires UK-Based E-Commerce Company

FedEx Corp. has acquired P2P Mailing Limited, an e-commerce transportation solutions provider based in the United Kingdom, for $130 million.

Memphis-based FedEx said it was interested in P2P to expand its portfolio of e-commerce offerings.

“This acquisition is a further step in achieving the global mission of the FedEx Trade Networks group to provide specialized solutions to customers,” Richard W. Smith, president and CEO of FedEx Trade Networks Inc., said in a release.

Laindon, England-based P2P, which specializes last-mile delivery options in over 200 countries, will operate as a subsidiary of FedEx Cross Border within the FedEx Trade Networks operating company.

“Global e-commerce continues to grow at a rapid pace, and more and more merchants, marketplaces, e-commerce and social platforms are looking for innovative, cost-effective ways to get merchandise from distribution points in one country to customers in another,” said Carl W. Asmus, president and CEO of FedEx Cross Border. “By adding P2P to the FedEx portfolio, we will be able to effectively serve even more elements of the e-commerce market.”

– Patrick Lantrip

Nickelberry to Transfer From University of Memphis

The first player to leave the University of Memphis basketball program under coach Penny Hardaway is guard/forward David Nickelberry, who averaged 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds as a freshman under Tubby Smith.

Nickelberry announced his decision via social media Tuesday, March 27. Hardaway now has four open scholarships.

Earlier, Connor Vanover, who was recruited by Smith and set to arrive next season, was granted a release from his national letter of intent. Guard Myreon Jones, another Smith recruit, de-committed after Smith’s firing and the hiring of Hardaway.

– Don Wade

UT, Memphis to Renew Basketball Rivalry

Tennessee and Memphis have agreed to renew their basketball rivalry starting next season.

The Volunteers and Tigers will play Dec. 15 at Memphis’ FedEx Forum in the first meeting between the programs since the 2012-13 season.

They’ll meet again at Knoxville’s Thompson-Boling Arena in the 2019-20 season and at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in 2020-21. Exact dates for the Knoxville and Nashville games haven’t been set.

A contract obtained through a public records request indicated the Nashville game would occur either on Dec. 18, 2020, or Dec. 20, 2020.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes and new Memphis coach Penny Hardaway had said Monday that the Tennessee-Memphis series would resume sometime during the upcoming season. The games were officially announced Wednesday, March 28.

Tennessee leads the series 14-11, though Memphis has won the last three matchups. The teams met annually from 2006-13.

– The Associated Press

Sedgwick Invests $1 Million In River City Partnership

Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. has made a $1 million commitment to support the University of Memphis’ River City Partnership, which engages talent and scholarship from the U of M through a partnership with Shelby County Schools to improve the quality of urban education.

The partnership places a unique emphasis on recruiting and training local teacher candidates, with a special focus on identifying educators from underrepresented groups, including African-American males and Latinos.

It addresses the entire teacher pipeline, from introducing high school students to teaching as a career, to preparing U of M undergraduate and graduate students, to induction as a Shelby County Schools teacher to retention strategies for new and existing SCS teachers.

The U of M has revamped its curricula for undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them to teach not only in an urban setting, but specifically in the Shelby County Schools system.

Cultural competence is a foundation of the curriculum as well as a key factor in the admission process, which uses a screening system to predict successful long-term retention.

The River City Partnership encourages teacher candidates to intentionally select the urban education pathway, creating a deep partnership with local schools and implementing high school teacher cadet programs while building an early interest in teaching as a career.

– Don Wade

Memphis Greenspace Plans Spring Park Programming

The nonprofit Memphis Greenspace has announced a first wave of activation in its current park portfolio of Memphis Park and Health Sciences Park.

In conjunction with the Downtown Memphis Commission and UrbanArt Commission, Memphis Park will host the Truth Booth – an interactive, transmedia global project featuring an inflatable, portable speech bubble recording booth – Tuesday, April 3, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

After the nonprofit’s involvement in helping remove Confederate statues from those parks, Memphis Greenspace president Van Turner said the idea behind the new project is to “capture and celebrate” diversity and give Memphis a forum to “speak some inspirational truth about how our city is looking forward and making progress.”

The Truth Booth will also make an appearance at RedZone Ministries in Orange Mound on Friday, April 6, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The DMC, meanwhile, is instituting a weekly meditative arts series through September in both Memphis Park and Health Sciences Park. And Downtown Yoga at Memphis Park is back by popular demand on Tuesdays at 6 p.m.

In Health Sciences Park, the DMC has organized free lunchtime programming for medical students, employees and visitors. These include Tuesday lunchtime tai chi, Thursday lunchtime yoga and a Friday lunchtime music series.

Visit Memphis Greenspace’s new Facebook page, facebook.com/memphisgreenspace, for details on these and other events.

– Andy Meek

Hollywood Feed Expands Into North Carolina

Memphis-based natural and holistic pet food retailer Hollywood Feed has opened its first North Carolina store in Cary, a city in the Research Triangle area between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

“As our footprint has expanded across the Southeast, North Carolina was a natural choice for our company’s growth,” Hollywood Feed president Shawn McGhee said in a statement.

With the opening of the 3,158-square-foot location, the chain encompasses nearly 70 stores across 10 states: Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

McGhee recently told The Daily News the retailer is on track to open 20 to 25 stores this year, including additional stores in Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Hollywood Feed operates 13 stores in the Memphis area, the newest being a 5,000-square-foot build-to-suit space at Collins Street and Sam Cooper Boulevard that replaces its flagship location on Broad Avenue. The retailer soon plans to move its corporate offices and warehouse from the Broad Avenue space to a 180,000-square-foot facility off Warford Street that will serve as the distribution center for all Hollywood Feed stores nationwide.

– Daily News staff

Leaders Want State Rep To Resign Over Charges

The speaker of Tennessee’s Senate has joined the call for a lawmaker to resign after three women accused him of sexual misconduct as their high school basketball coach decades ago.

Speaker Randy McNally called for Republican Rep. David Byrd to step down Wednesday. House Speaker Beth Harwell has also asked for his resignation.

In a WSMV-TV report Tuesday, two women alleged Byrd inappropriately touched them. The third said Byrd tried to.

One woman said she recorded a call to Byrd last month. In the call aired on WSMV-TV, Byrd apologized but didn’t detail his actions, and denied anything happened with other students.

A spokesman says Byrd plans to fight most allegations and has no intention of resigning.

– The Associated Press