Strategy

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko announced plans to open two new Shopko Hometown stores. The stores, which will average 36,000 sq. ft., are located in Mayville, Wis., and Valentine, Neb.

Housewares industry veteran Robert Edmund Reichenbach, Lifetime Brands EVP and president of the cutlery and cutting board and cookware and bakeware divisions, has died. He was also president of the Cookware Manufacturers Association.

New York -- J.C. Penny will eliminate the jcp menswear brand and reduce the assortments in its Joe Fresh, Michael Graves and Martha Stewart lines, Reuters reported. All four brands were introduced by former CEO Ron Johnson. Penney plans to use the resulting space to emphasize its exclusive private-label brands.

Los Angeles — Retail real estate showed the strongest growth in capital values and rents of all property types globally in the third quarter of 2013, according to CBRE Group, Inc.

Retail sales in November increased a better-than-expected 0.7% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The figure includes categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.

Analysts were expecting sales to rise 0.6% in last month. The latest retail sales numbers were 4.7% above November 2012 numbers.

Fremont, Calif. – Men’s Wearhouse reported declining net income during the third quarter of fiscal 2013 even as net sales improved. Net income dropped about 22%, from $48.8 million in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year to $38.2 million.

Central Garden & Pet Company CEO John Ranelli offered a contrite response regarding the company's lack of sufficient progress in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2013.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway has appointed Brian Baer to president of the company's Eastern Division. Baer joined Safeway in 2001 as VP finance for the company's Phoenix Division. In 2004, he became group VP finance planning and analysis at the Safeway's corporate headquarters.