Finance & Capital Management

Houston -- Specialty retailer Charming Charlie announced the appointment of four retail executives as part of the ongoing development of the company’s internal structure and another step in its ongoing national expansion, including the opening of 60 retail locations in 2012.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores announced that Glen Boyer, previously VP real estate market research, has been named group VP real estate market research & property management.

HOUSTON — Specialty apparel and accessories retailer Charming Charlie has appointed four retail executives as part of the ongoing development of the company’s internal structure and another step in its ongoing national expansion, including the opening of 60 retail locations in 2012.

Columbia, Md. -- Micros Systems  announced that Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant has expanded its partnership with Micros through the deployment of Micros webOrdering, a fully integrated online ordering program, and the cloud-based back-office platform, mymicros.net.

J.C. Penney is in the very beginning of its transformation. But the first component of the strategy — a new pricing model that jettisoned hundreds of promotions in favor a three-tier model — in already in place. And not surprisingly, experts are weighing in.

New York -- Swedish fast-fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) plans to call its new retail brand “& other stories” according to various media reports.

New York -- Michaels Stores Friday confirmed that it is has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. According to the filing, the company proposed to raise $500 million in the IPO. The number of shares to be sold and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

New York -- Consumer spending rose 0.8% in February, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the biggest increase since July. However, the increase came as Americans' income barely grew, and the saving rate fell to its lowest point in more than two years.

Some of the higher spending last month reflected rising gas prices. But even after excluding inflation, which was due mainly to gas prices, spending rose a solid 0.5%.