Strategy

West Palm Beach, Fla. -- Wing chain Hurricane Grill & Wings has signed five multi-unit development agreements, representing 22 new locations slated to open in 2014-2015.

The Florida-based franchised brand opened two locations in early 2014, with plans for a total of 14 new units by the end of this year.

Mississauga, Canada - Federal Express Canada Ltd. has reached an agreement with Home Hardware Stores Ltd. that allows individual dealer-owners the ability to house full-service FedEx Authorized ShipCenters within their stores. The FedEx Authorized ShipCenters will be rolled out across Canada in a series of implementation waves throughout the year.

Waban, Mass. - The percentage of large organizations that have reached the two highest levels of customer experience maturity has grown from 6% in 2013 to 10% this year. During the same period, the percentage of companies in the lowest level of maturity has dropped from 40% to 31%, according to a new report from Temkin Group, “The State of Customer Experience Management 2014.”

Other findings include:

Dublin, Ireland – Discount fast-fashion retailer Primark, the Dublin-based subsidiary of U.K. retail and consumer group Associated British Foods, plans to enter the United States, opening a location in Boston. The 70,000-sq.-ft. store will open at the end of 2015 and be on the site of the former Filene's department store in the city’s downtown area.

Thousand Oaks, Calif. — A 36,000-sq.-ft. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market has opened at Thousand Oaks Marketplace in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Other Marketplace retailers include Chase Bank, Walgreens and Hampton Inn, with Subway and Great Clips slated to open soon. The center serves a daytime population of 75,498.

Things are looking good for Supervalu, which reported fourth quarter fiscal 2014 net sales of $4 billion, up 1.4%, and net earnings of $26 million, or $0.10 per diluted share.

"Fiscal 2014 was an important transition year for Supervalu as we stabilized the organization and set the foundation for our future,” stated Sam Duncan, Supervalu president and CEO. “I am pleased with the direction of our business segments and look forward to the new fiscal year where we can focus our attention on driving sales growth across the organization.”

Lost Angeles — CBRE Group has announced that John Ferguson has been promoted to president, southeast region.

Ferguson has led CBRE’s southeast region since January 2011. His elevation to the title of president reflects outstanding performance across a broad range of leadership activities including new business development, business and sales management, market and industry leadership, client relationships and people management, said CBRE in a statement.

Even before Meb Keflezighi won the Boston Marathon wearing a pair of Skechers, a brand not normally associated with running, the footwear company was winning big in the marketplace.