Strategy

York, Pa. -- The Bon-Ton Stores has signed a letter of intent with Simon Property Group for the 135,000-sq.-ft. former Mervyn's facility located in the Southdale Center in Edina, Minn.

Remodeling of the site is expected to begin in March and be completed in November, at which time Bon-Ton will open a new store under its Herberger’s banner.
The new Herberger’s location will bring the total number of Herberger’s stores to six in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market.

New York City -- One-third (29% ) of consumers across eight major economies have been victims of credit-card fraud in the past five years, according to the 2010 Global Card Fraud Survey by ACI Worldwide, an international provider of payment systems.

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children's Place Retail Stores said Friday that their executive VP finance and administration Susan Riley is leaving the company. The retailer said it will eliminate the role and look for a CFO.

The children's clothing company said VP finance John Taylor will serve as interim principal financial officer and Bernard McCracken, VP controller, will serve as interim principal accounting officer.

It was almost all good news for Advance Auto parts this week, as the company reported record fourth-quarter sales and profits. Fourth-quarter earnings per share increased 46% to 57 cents compared with 36 cents during the comparable period the prior year, and full-year profits rose to $3.95 from $2.83 the prior year.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Lowe’s personnel changes are becoming hard to keep up with.

QUINCY, Mass. -- The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company announced the special dedication of a 400 kilowatt fuel cell at its Torringford Street store in East Torrington, Conn. 

According to the company, the fuel cell, a UTC Power PureCell System Model 400, was supported with a grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund's On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program and is the first fuel cell utilized by the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company. It is expected to generate over 90% of the store's electric energy.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gap said that it has expanded its Gap and Banana Republic online presence to eight additional European countries through its dedicated European e-commerce sites.

Gap debuted the dedicated sites in the United Kingdom in August 2010 and then expanded to include nine additional European countries in October 2010. The newest announcement brings the total reach of it European e-commerce business to 18 countries.

Irwin Tools, a leading maker of hand tools and power tool accessories based in Huntersville, N.C., has named Ross Porter as its new president. Porter has held a variety of positions during his 18 years at Newell Rubbermaid, Irwin’s parent company. He most recently served as president of EMEA Transformation, where Porter led the company’s European transformation efforts, including implementation of a new European business model, integration and implementation of SAP enterprise system, and relocation of its European headquarters.

Walmart and Target are said to be among major corporations working with the Department of Energy on the development of a new breed of energy-efficient air conditioners. The DOE recently announced that as part of a voluntary program, it worked with members of the DOE Commercial Building Energy Alliances, including Walmart and Target, to develop new performance criteria for 10-ton capacity commercial air conditioners, also known as rooftop units that are 50% to 60% more efficient than existing equipment.

The retail consulting and research firm Customer Growth Partners is out with a new report highlighting the fact that department stores gained market share last year for the first time in nearly three decades. According to CGP’s study, department stores’ share of the U.S. retail market rose for the first time since the 1980’s, fueled both by innovation and superior mall anchor execution combined with top-line weakness at the granddaddy of off-mall big-boxes, Walmart’s U.S. division, which is now suffering through almost two years of lagging sales.