On this week’s Modern Retail Rundown, the staff begins by discussing the latest retail merger. Struggling department store J.C. Penney is merging with Sparc Group to form a new fashion retail entity called Catalyst Brands. At CES this week, Amazon announced a new program called Amazon Retail Ad Service that allows other retailers to use the company’s tech to create their own ad networks. Lastly, this week, Target announced it’s releasing 2,000 new products this week geared toward wellness at a lower cost.