Strategy

Benicia, Calif. — Cycle Gear has announced the opening of its first New York State store in Hicksville. With this new location, Cycle Gear has stores in 31 states. Company officials said this is the first of many planned stores in New York.

Employee-owned and enthusiast-driven, Cycle Gear is an active member of the riding community, sponsoring local events and working with new and experienced riders to help them find just the right gear.

Chattanooga, Tenn. — CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. has closed on an $80 million non-recourse loan secured by The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta, a 75/25 joint venture with Horizon Group Properties. The 10-year loan bears a 4.9% fixed interest rate. Proceeds from the loan were used to repay a $53.2 million recourse construction loan. CBL www.cblproperties.com used its share of the remaining funds to reduce outstanding balances on the company’s unsecured credit facilities.

St. George, Utah -- Family Dollar on Wednesday the grand opening of its 11th distribution center, in St. George, Utah.
 
“Opening our 11th distribution center is an important milestone for us,” said Howard Levine, Family Dollar’s chairman and CEO. “This facility is ideally located to support our growth in the West, helping us keep our stores well-stocked as we continue to provide customers in this region with great value and convenience.”

Tampa, Fla. – Marketing enterprise management systems provider Aptaris has named Bill Morrell as VP technology. Morrell previously held IT executive positions at companies including BabyAge.com and Destination Maternity, as well as consulting roles with clients including Cadbury Adams, Nascar and DME.

Payments industry executive, Lisa Shipley, is joining Transaction Network Services (TNS) as head of global strategy for the company’s payments division.

In the newly created role, Shipley will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for the division. Shipley, who will be based at the company’s headquarters in Reston, Va., will also work closely with TNS’ product, sales, development and operations teams across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific regions to ensure the consistent execution of the strategy worldwide.

Bentonville, Ark. – Kenyan retailer Naivas reportedly will not sell a controlling interest in the company to Wal-Mart’s South African subsidiary Massmart. According to Reuters, a Naivas executive said the retailer no longer plans to sell 50% plus one share of its stock to Massmart.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) has announced that former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will be a keynote speaker at the 2014 NACDS annual meeting, which will be held April 26-29 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Chicago – More retailers are hiring extra holiday staff this year. According to a new annual holiday hiring survey from CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive, 39% of retail hiring managers reported that they plan to hire seasonal workers this year, up from 36% last year and 29% in 2011.