Strategy

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.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is calling the short-term budget deal reached by Congress on Dec. 10 a step in the right direction for the economy and for retailers. In a prepared statement, Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the NRF, said legislators must move past partisan differences to resolve lingering fiscal issues.

Analysis from price intelligence firm Profitero showed that Amazon.com makes more than 2.5 million price changes every day, compared with a little more than 50,000 total price changes made by brick-and-mortar retailers Walmart and Best Buy throughout November.

Profitero’s analysis also revealed that Amazon.com has increased its number of daily price changes 10-fold during the last 12 months. At the beginning of December 2012, the online retailer implemented just 269,113 price changes.

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corp. increased profit and sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2014 that missed Wall Street expectations hurt by a 5.5% rise in operating expenses, lower gasoline prices, and weak foreign currencies.
Profit rose 2% $425 million, from $416 million a year earlier.

Net sales rose 5% to $24.47, missing estimates of $25.4 million.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot has selected Boca Raton, Fla., for its global headquarters rather than the Naperville, Ill., corporate home of its merger partner OfficeMax.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- The Wet Seal announced a partnership with AwesomenessTV on reality series, "The Intern." AwesomenessTV, one of the most subscribed to video destinations for teens on YouTube, debuted the series on Nov. 25 and will air four weekly installments throughout the month of December.

New York -- Identified as a 2014 industry bellwether, this year’s New York National Conference and Deal Making is up 15% over last year, with some 7,000 people in attendance, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The increase bodes well for next year, according to Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO. When attendance is up, he said, the industry grows the following year. When it’s down, a decline has always followed.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores named David Cheesewright, 51, as the new president and CEO of Walmart International. He succeeds Douglas McMillon, who is set to become the chain’s CEO, the retailer's top executive. Both assume their new roles on Feb. 1, 2014.