Strategy

By Jason S. Baker

SECAUCUS, N.J. — More than a year after The Children's Place Retail Stores began its search for a new chief financial officer, following the departure of EVP finance and adminstration, Susan Riley, the company has named Steven Baginski as CFO. He will report to Eric Bauer, COO. 

San Francisco -- The Gymboree Corp. reported Wednesday that it narrowed its loss in the quarter ended Jan. 28 to $24.9 million, compared with a loss of $47.3 million a year earlier.

Sales for the quarter increased 11.9% to $355.8 million, from $318.0 million last year. Same-store sales rose 6%.

The company announced that it plans to open 105 new stores in fiscal 2012, including 80 Crazy 8 stores.
 

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey’s General Stores said Tuesday it will break ground on its first site in Tennessee in June, marking the thirteenth state in the c-store chain’s area of operations.

The debut store will open in Dyersburg, Tenn., in October.

“We believe the state of Tennessee provides an excellent opportunity for Casey’s,” said Robert Myers, president and CEO.

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children’s Place Retail Stores announced Wednesday it has named Steven Baginski to the position of CFO, reporting to COO Eric Bauer.

Baginski spent eight years with Limited Brands, most recently as senior VP corporate finance.
 

Following up on last week’s commentary (A dot com disconnect and Canadian e-commerce opportunity revealed), the legislative loophole that has U.S. retailers at a disadvantage to their Canadian counterparts was on display again this week during congressional testimony in Washington, D.C.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Amidst allegations of involvement in a foreign bribery scandal, Wal-Mart Stores vice chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright has vacated his seat on the board of life insurer MetLife, according to a Tuesday announcement by Wal-Mart.

In a letter to MetLife CEO Steve Kandarian, Castro-Wright said that the recent events at Wal-Mart would require his “immediate and personal attention. Accordingly, I now must focus my energy in spending personal time with my family and in protecting my good name and business reputation.”

The Minnesota Vikings are in need of a new football stadium and Target’s EVP property development John Griffith sees a proposed downtown Minneapolis location as one element of a larger development and revitalization plan. That’s according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which reported this week on Griffith’s involvement in the downtown deal-making and track record at Target. Read the article here.