International Business

New York -- American Apparel Inc. announced  four new directors to its board, including the company’s first-ever female board member, Colleen Brown, a former CEO of Fisher Communications, and former Walgreens executive Joseph Magnacca, who took the reins as CEO of RadioShack last year.  

The other new directors are  David Glazek, a partner with hedge fund Standard General, which holds a nearly 44% stake in American Apparel, and Thomas J. Sullivan, a director of Media General.

Redwood City, Calif. -- Oracle Corp. announced it is opening a cloud development center in Seattle, its first such center outside of California. The company, which plans to hire about 100 engineers to start, said it chose Seattle to take advantage of the “deep expertise” in cloud computing available in the city’s rapidly growing technical community.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corporation announced that Darren Karst is joining Rite Aid as executive VP and CFO, effective Aug. 20.

Karst succeeds Frank Vitrano, who has announced he will retire in September, 2015. Until then, Vitrano retains the chief administrative officer responsibilities for the company’s information technology, real estate and indirect procurement functions. He will also serve as a key resource in the development and execution of new business and growth initiatives.

By Sandy Skrovan, U.S. research director at Planet Retail

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has lost its bid to keep files regarding an internal probe of possible bribes paid to Mexican officials to aid real estate deals out of the hands of investors. The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a 2013 ruling by a lower Delaware state court mandating that Wal-Mart provide the files to several investors.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay is offering $3.48 billion in debt bonds in a sale that will close July 28. EBay intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, for general corporate purposes including loan repayments.

$400 million of the debt will mature in 2017, with the rest coming due in stages through 2024.

New York - Nook Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble Inc., is offering a limited time free ebook and magazine offer through the Nook app for Windows 8.1 in Canada. Customers who download the app will receive five free popular books and two free top magazines.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. since June 2010, is leaving the company. He will be replaced by Greg Foran, 53, president and CEO of Walmart Asia, who will take up the post on Aug. 9, reporting directly Wal-Mart president and CEO, Doug McMillon. Simon will be available on a consulting basis for the next six months to ensure a seamless transition.

Walmart named Greg Foran president and CEO of its U.S. stores division to replace Bill Simon, who is leaving the company after an eight-year run.
 

Channeling his inner Sam Walton this week, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon rattled the company with the unexpected appointment of a relatively unknown newcomer to replace Bill Simon as CEO of its largest and most profitable division.