Strategy

Looking to capitalize on the crafting craze, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is partnering with the Craft Retail Group to launch TV programming dedicated specifically to crafting.

The “TV shopping experience” with daily featured shows is scheduled to launch Dec. 29.

Cary, N.C. – Canadian convenience store conglomerate Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., which operates stores under the Circle K banner in the U.S., has agreed to purchase The Pantry Inc., operator of the Kangaroo Express convenience/fuel chain, for $1.7 billion. Purchase price includes $861 million in cash and about $840 million in assumed debt.  

  Goleta, Calif. - Deckers Brands has appointed Nelson Chan, chairman of the board of directors of Redbox and Coinstar parent company Outerwall, to the company's board of directors. Maureen Conners will step down from the Deckers board at year-end to pursue other activities.  

Chicago - Top commercial construction trends for 2015 include an increase in retail and restaurant ground-up construction and a rise in shopping mall renovations, according to national general construction firm Englewood Construction.  

Walmart is instituting new rules on poultry safety as the company looks to protect customers from foodborne illness.

Walmart’s enhanced poultry safety measures will require poultry suppliers to achieve prevention-based certification by one of the Global Food Safety Initiative's recognized standards. Walmart said poultry suppliers must implement "holistic controls" from farm to fork; the controls must significantly reduce potential contamination levels, including chicken parts.

Rite Aid is raising its guidance for 2015 after a big jump in same store sales lifted the company in the third quarter.

The company reported third-quarter revenues of $6.7 billion, an increase of 5.3%, driven primarily by same-store sales. Same-store sales for the quarter ended Nov. 29 were up 5.4% overall, including a 1.6% lift in front-end same store sales and a 7.2% increase in pharmacy same store sales.

Dallas - For the first time since its founding in 1989, affiliated Dallas-based commercial real estate services firms The Weitzman Group and Cencor Realty Services has a new chief executive.    Marshall Mills, previously the firm’s COO, has been promoted to CEO.  He takes the reins from company founder and longtime CEO, Herbert D. Weitzman, who will now serve as executive chairman of the statewide retail-focused commercial real estate services firm.  

Hudson’s Bay Co. has looked to a Toys “R” Us veteran as its pick for its next CEO effective Jan. 5, although current CEO Richard Baker will stay on as governor and executive chairman of the retailing company.

Gerald Storch, an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, oversaw the expansion of Toys “R” Us online and international business. Prior to joining the toy giant, he was vice chairman of Target Corp., where he founded Target.com, and ran the chain’s grocery business.