International Business

Indianapolis – Jeremy J. Aguilar has resigned as CFO and secretary of Hhgregg, effective Jan. 31. Andrew S. Giesler, senior VP finance, has been appointed to serve as interim CFO and secretary from Jan. 31 until a full-time replacement is named.

Giesler, 36, has served the company in several roles since joining in May 2007, including senior VP finance; VP finance; VP controller and director of finance and investor relations. Aguilar is leaving to take a similar role at another company.

Westbury, N.Y. – Online discount retailer DealYard has optimized its site in a customer-friendly way, using personalized recommendations that are provided by CRM vendor 4-tell. In addition, users will receive ideas on what to add next, a feature provided by VeInteractive.

Bob Varakian and and Stephen Spitz were appointed to new roles at leading kitchenware and tabletop manufacturer Lifetime Brands.

The company said Bob Varakian will serve as group president over its cutlery/cutting boards and cookware/bakeware divisions effective January 6. He will report to Lifetime chairman and CEO Jeffrey Siegel. The company also named Stephen Spitz to the role of president for the cutlery/cutting boards division and he will report to Varakian.

Columbia, S.C. — Edens Investment Trust has closed a $1.47 billion equity transaction composed of the $718 million sale of a 29% equity stake in the company and a $750 million equity commitment from the company’s institutional investors.

In the sales transaction, a Blackstone-sponsored real estate investment vehicle acquired a $718 million stake in Edens from the State of Michigan Retirement System.

A Dutch arbitration panel has ordered Tiffany & Co. to pay Swatch damages of about $449.5 million plus interest in a breach of contract case dating back to 2011. The dispute stems from Swatch’s claim that Tiffany failed to honor its obligation to develop and sell Swatch watches under the Tiffany name and split the profits.

The amount is 8.8% of the total damages sought by Swatch. Tiffany will also have to pay about $8.8 million in fees, expenses and other arbitration costs. One arbitrator on the three-arbitrator panel did not rule in favor of Swatch.

Electrolux plans to expand its North American headquarters, their second expansion at this location in three years, and will be adding 810 new local jobs as a result.

The new jobs are in the areas of research and development, marketing, design, engineering, supply chain, finance, IT and executive management, and will be added by the end of 2017.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Walgreen Co. reported a healthy 68% surge in net earnings during the first quarter of fiscal 2014 to $695 million from $413 million in the same period a year earlier.

Net sales rose about 6%, to $18.3 billion from $17.3 billion, while same-store sales grew 5.4%.

Whirlpool is reaffirming its commitment to its U.S. manufacturing base by moving production of its commercial front-load washing machines from Monterrey, Mexico, to Clyde, Ohio.

Approximately 80-100 new jobs will be created in Clyde during the next three years to support this manufacturing relocation. The company expects the relocation to increase its operational efficiencies and align with its strategy of building products in the regions where they are primarily sold. Production of the font-load commercial washer platform is due to begin in the U.S. April 2014.