Mergers & Acquisitions

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Thursday announced the appointment of Brad Fluegel as SVP and chief strategy officer. Fluegel will be responsible for corporate strategy, business development, project management and the corporate consulting team while also working on venture capital efforts.

New York -- Uniqlo, a division of Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd, will launch its U.S. e-commerce site next week, a crucial part of its drive to earn $10 billion in overall North American sales by 2020, Bloomberg reported.

"By opening this e-commerce site now, we are able to cater to customers across the United States," said Uniqlo USA CEO Shin Odake in the Bloomberg report.

Uniqlo currently has five U.S. locations, including new sites in San Francisco and New Jersey, along with its other three in Manhattan.

New York -- Hudson's Bay Co. announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with securities regulators in Canada for a proposed initial public offering of common shares. The company, which has been owned by NRDC Equity Partners since 2008, operates U.S. department store chain Lord & Taylor, along with The Bay and Home Outfitters chains in Canada.

ATLANTA — RedPrairie, a global supply chain and retail technology provider, has named Gary Conway as EVP and chief marketing officer. In this role, Conway is responsible for RedPrairie’s global marketing strategy, including corporate brand management, customer engagement, product strategy and marketing, and demand generation. Conway will report to RedPrairie CEO Michael Mayoras and become a member of the company’s executive leadership team.  

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival announced that Mark L. Lemond is retiring for health reasons from his positions as president, CEO and director effective Oct. 27.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — AutoZone has elected Enderson Guimaraes to its board of directors.

Guimaraes is CEO of PepsiCo Europe, a role he assumed in September 2012, and is responsible for PepsiCo's food and beverage businesses in Continental Europe as well as the United Kingdom and sub-Sahara Africa. "

Enderson's exceptional international operations experience will benefit AutoZone greatly. We are fortunate to have him as a new board member," said Bill Rhodes, chairman, president and CEO.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Simon Property Group and Paragon Outlet Partners, Baltimore,  have signed a letter of intent to jointly develop Charlotte Premium Outlets, in Stallings, N.C.

Projected to open in 2014, the outlet center will be 400,000 sq. ft. and will house approximately 100 designer and name brand stores.
  
The project, which is expected to break ground during spring 2013, is a 50/50 joint venture between Simon Property Group and Paragon Outlet Partners.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu Inc. on Thursday reported a loss of $111 for its second quarter, compared with net income of $60 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue fell 4.6% to $8.04 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 8, from $8.43 billion in the year-earlier quarter. The decrease in net sales was blamed on both a decline in identical store sales and the sale of a majority of the company’s gas stations, which had contributed $158 million in revenue in the second quarter last year.