Strategy

New York City -- Johnny Rockets debuted its updated interior design at its just-opened restaurant at South Street Seaport, in New York City.

"I've waited 10 years for this site, and we've taken great care to preserve the historical aspects of the building, while keeping to the tradition of our sleek and modern American feel," said Johnny Rockets franchise owner Bill White. "

Heading into last Friday’s annual meeting, the financial community had high expectations Walmart would allocate additional funds to buy back stock, and the company didn’t disappoint. The $15 billion share repurchase authorization CFO Charles Holley announced replaced an existing $15 billion program approved one year earlier that had dwindled to just $2 billion due to the fact that Walmart was an aggressive purchaser of its own stock during the past 12 months.

It takes a special type of person to work at Walmart, according to chief information officer Rollin Ford, who told those assembled at the company’s shareholders’ meeting that customer service is in their DNA.

Ford, a 28-year Walmart executive, was called into service for a brief presentation at the meeting to recount his experience of working at Walmart while founder Sam Walton was still alive, since most of the thousands of store associates and many of the executives who attended the event joined the company after Walton death nearly 20 years ago.

While an abundance of celebrities and references to Walmart founder Sam Walton gave this year’s shareholders meeting a familiar feel, there also was an unmistakable emphasis on e-commerce and social media.

Driving same-store sales at U.S. stores is the top priority of Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon and his boss, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., president and CEO Mike Duke. Both executives stated U.S. comp growth is their top priority on Friday and went on to add that they are confident the company has the right strategy and people in place to make it happen.

MONTVALE, N.J. — Grocer A&P has entered into a new supply and logistics agreement with its principal wholesale supplier, C&S Wholesale Grocers, that is estimated to generate a run-rate of more than $50 million in annual savings. The revised contract must be approved by the bankruptcy court.

SALT LAKE CITY — Overstock.com has announced the unveiling of the O.co Coliseum, the new name of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, home to the NFL Oakland Raiders and the MLB Oakland Athletics. The O.co Coliseum signage will make its debut on June 7 when U2 performs in the facility.

According to Overstock.com, the company is using the naming of the coliseum to promote its transition to a .co domain name.

Sequential improvements in delinquency rates in Targets’s credit card portfolio just keep coming as the percentage of accounts 60 and 90 days past due fell yet again in May.

The number of accounts 60 day’s past due dropped to 3.1% in May compared with 3.3% in April while the number of accounts 90 days past represented just 2.3% of the total portfolio in May compared to 2.4% in April.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — eBay Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire Magento Inc., the creator of Magento, a leading open source e-commerce platform. The deal follows eBay’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company in 2010. Upon closing of the transaction, eBay will own 100% of the outstanding shares of Magento. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MINNEAPOLIS — ValueVision Media, a premium interactive retailer via TV, Internet, mobile and social media, operating under the "ShopNBC" brand, announced that Nathan Martin, has been appointed VP fulfillment.

Martin joins ShopNBC with nearly two decades of manufacturing and distribution experience. Most recently, he served as assistant general manager at United Stationers Supply Company. Previously, he held management positions at Cost Plus, QVC, and Verbatim Memory Corporation.