America Online Inc and Circuit City Stores Inc will cross-promote one another’s services on the internet and offline, while a new deal between Yahoo Inc and Kmart Corp will see them doing the same. The deals were announced only days after rumors of a third agreement, this one between AOL and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. AOL will be the preferred ISP for Circuit City and will be given retail space in Circuit City’s 615 stores. In return, Circuit City will take up position as an anchor tenant of AOL’s online shopping malls. Meanwhile Kmart will form its own internet company, BlueLight Inc, by teaming with Yahoo and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc to provide free web access, personalization and shopping services. While Softbank Venture Capital, a unit of Softbank Corp, has committed $62.5m to BlueLight.com, Kmart will retain 60% of the equity in the new venture.
