Marketing

All 10 members of Target’s board of directors were re-elected at the retailer’s annual meeting on June 11, but there was strong opposition to several members and a proposal requiring an independent chairman nearly passed.

San Francisco — La Boulange, the bakery-café chain owned by Starbucks, has opened its first restaurant outside its base of San Francisco, in Los Angeles. The new all-day menu offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, using local California-sourced ingredients wherever possible, as well as tap wine and beer and specialty cocktails.

New York City — Restaurant chain Pret A Manger has leased a 2,577-sq.-ft. shop at 600 Lexington Avenue, a boutique 36-story office tower on East 52nd Street. The new location will bring the chains Manhattan locations to a total of 39.

RKF (www.rkf.com) represented Pret A Manger and the landlord, SL Green Realty Corp. in the transaction. Over the last two years, RKF has arranged a dozen new leases for the chain.

Atlanta — Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. announced plans to launch a major remodeling program across its nationwide network of nearly 3,400 Arby's quick-service sandwich restaurants.

The turnkey revitalization initiative includes a new building image, team member re-training program and franchisee remodel financing solution.  

Lululemon Athletica Inc.'s first-quarter net income plunged 60%, impacted by a one-time tax adjustment. Although its adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street's expectations for the quarter, the retailer lowered its full-year earnings forecast.

Lululemon said that CFO John Currie plans to retire by the end of its fiscal year (February 2015).

Brisbane, California — bebe stores CEO Steve Birkhold has left the company, effectively immediately, and an interim chief has been named to lead while a search for a permanent replacement is underway, said bebe stores on Thursday.

Following the sudden departure of Birkhold, the board appointed Jim Wiggett, currently CEO of Jackson Hole Group, as bebe’s interim CEO.

Dodgeville, Wisconsin — Lands' End reported that profit for the first quarter surged 68% to $10.9 million, from $6.5 million in the year-ago period, as shoppers have responded to improved merchandise assortments and targeted promotions.

The company, which was recently spun off by Sears, also reported a revenue rise of 4% to $330.5 million. Same-store sales climbed 3.4%.
 

Daniel Castle, former Iconix VP of international and business development, will be joining Saban Brands as the company’s managing director of strategic business development.

Vera Bradley has named Angel Ilagan as EVP, chief marketing officer, effective July 21.

Since 2010, Ilagan has served as marketing chief and VP of marketing in the Americas for Pandora Jewelry, where he oversees consumer advertising, promotions, marketing research, public relations, co-op advertising, Web management, customer relationship management (CRM) and social media management. His additional global responsibilities at Pandora include branding, strategic marketing and e-commerce content.

Bigcommerce, a commerce platform for growing and emerging brands, has named Tim Schulz as SVP of product management.