Finance & Capital Management

London -- A Thursday report by Reuters said that British sports retailer Sports Direct will buy 60 stores from struggling competitor JJB Sports.

Citing an unnamed source, Reuters reported that JJB said it is close to appointing KPMG as administrators to sell its assets and brands after failing to receive an offer for the entire company.

JJB operates 180 stores. Sports Direct is majority-owned by Mike Ashley, owner of the Newcastle United soccer club. He will pay about $48 million for the 60 stores.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation estimates that U.S. retailers and their customers are benefiting from savings of up to $18 million every day since the implementation of the debit card swipe fee reform.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack Corp. said CEO James Gooch has agreed to step down from his position, effective immediately. The company did not specify a reason for his departure. Gooch was appointed CEO in 2011 and has been working to boost stagnant sales.

RadioShack said its board is conducting a search for a successor and would not rule out internal candidates. In the interim, executive VP and CFO Dorvin Lively will serve as the acting CEO.

New York -- A U.S. judge in San Francisco has certified a class-action lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. that involved allegations of gender discrimination in the store's promotion practices.

“Costco offers numerous competing explanations for the observed gender disparity in promotions,” U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said in the ruling, Bloomberg reported. “None of these explanations undermine the companywide nature of the challenged policies and their disparate effects.”

Global flavorings leader McCormick & Company named Eli Lilly & Company executive Jacques Tapiero to its board.

Tapiero has served as SVP and president of emerging markets for Lilly since 2009 and brings more than 25 years of international business experience to the $3.5 billion spice company. Tapiero currently leads Lilly's business strategy in many of the world's fastest-growing markets, such as China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey. He is a member of Lilly's executive committee.

Riverside, Calif. -- Vestar, in a joint venture with a fund advised by UBS Global Asset Management, announced that it has acquired Riverside Plaza, a 475,211-sq.-ft. retail center located on 35 acres in Riverside, Calif., for $84,844,000 in an all cash transaction. The acquisition marks one of the largest investment sales transactions in Southern California's Inland Empire region in the past 10 years. Vestar currently manages more than 22 million sq. ft. of retail properties in the West.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores announced the grand opening of 12 stores, creating approximately 1,500 jobs nationwide. The company now operates 1,146 stores in 49 states.

The company is celebrating the grand opening of 12 stores in 10 states, including Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. Of the 12 new locations, 11 are small format stores with approximately 64,000 sq. ft. or less of retail space.

CLEVELAND — A greeting cards company announced that its board of directors has received a nonbinding proposal to go private.

American Greetings confirmed that the board received a letter from CEO Zev Weiss, president and COO Jeffrey Weiss, along with certain other members of the Weiss family and related parties, to acquire all of the outstanding class A and class B common shares of American Greetings not currently owned by the them for $17.18 per share.