International Business

Commerce, Calif. -- Discounter 99 Cents Only Stores said Tuesday it has agreed to be acquired by a group of investors including its founding family, Ares Management and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board for $1.6 billion in cash.

The announcement ends a months-long sales process, which started with a takeover offer from Leonard Green & Partners in March.

New York City -- The National Retail Federation has announced that President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at the NRF’s 101st Annual Convention in New York City.

Clinton, who will speak on "Embracing our Common Humanity,” will deliver his address on Jan 16, 11 a.m. 12 p.m.

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- TIAA-CREF and CBL & Associates Properties have announced the closing of their $1.09 billion real estate joint venture to invest in market-dominant shopping malls.

TIAA-CREF has completed its investment in four of CBL’s market-dominant shopping malls: Oak Park Mall in Kansas City, Kan.; West County Center in St. Louis; CoolSprings Galleria in Nashville; and Pearland Town Center in Pearland, Texas.

NEW YORK — Supermarket chain Stop & Shop will work with Foodshare to sponsor events at its stores in Hartford, Conn., to help qualifying residents access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit.

About 70% of Connecticut residents who qualify for SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program, actually receive the benefit, Stop & Shop said. This is because of such issues as language barriers, lack of transportation or lack of knowledge of the program.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores was ordered to temporarily halt operations at seven stores in the city of Chongqing in southwest China, as the local government investigates accusations that it mislabeled some pork products as organic.

The company, which was ordered to pay $421,000 over the incident, apologized to shoppers for any inconvenience and said it was cooperating with authorities.

The departure last week of Target chief marketing officer and spearhead of the retailer’s entry into Canada, Michael Francis, was a significant development in the retail world, but someone forgot to tell the company’s suppliers.

On March 22, 2011, Canadian retailer tb!s The Bargain Shop named top American retail executive Beryl “Jack” Buley as its new president and CEO.  A week later, on March 29, I sat down with Buley to discuss his new position for our then-upcoming June/July issue.  Eight weeks later, he was dead.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot announced it has named Teresa Wynn Roseborough executive VP general counsel and corporate secretary, effective in November.

Roseborough, who will be responsible for leading The Home Depot's legal department, as well as its government relations and corporate security services functions, joins the chain from MetLife, where she most recently served as deputy general counsel.