Strategy

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters Inc. has appointed a former executive as CEO of its namesake brand. The company named Tedford Marlow as head of the Urban Outfitters Group, effective Feb. 6. Marlow he retired from the chain in 2010, after spending nine years as president of the Urban Outfitters brand.

The announcement came almost a month after Richard Hayne, the company's chairman and president, succeeded CEO Glen Senk, who resigned. Hayne co-founded the company in 1970.
 

New York City -- Aeropostale said Friday it has appointed seven-year board member Karin Hirtler-Garvey as chairman of the board, replacing Julian R. Geiger who has stepped down as chairman and resigned from the board.

In November, Gieger left his chairman/CEO post with Aeropostale to join Crumbs Bake Shop as president and CEO.

Hirtler-Garvey is a CPA, and most recently was the chief risk executive for Ally Financial Inc.  Prior to that, she held various senior level management positions at Bank of America.

Sandpoint, Idaho -- Coldwater Creek Inc. has promoted Jim Bell to the newly created position of executive VP and COO. He will oversee the retailer's information technology systems, real estate, distribution and logistics, planning and allocation, and finance.

Bell is currently the company's chief financial officer, and will continue to fill that role in his new job, the company said Thursday.
 

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said its same-store sales in January fell 4.6% in the wake of its decision to stop doing business with a major  pharmacy benefits manager. A weak flu season also figured into its results.

Walgreen stopped filling prescriptions for patients in the Express Scripts network on December 31, 2011. Pharmacy same-store sales were down 7.9% in January.
 

New York City -- Saks Fifth Avenue said Friday that, during February, it will give 5% of all registered purchases made with a Saks Fifth Avenue credit card back to local charities.

Saks Fifth Avenue has partnered with 194 charitable organizations nationwide.

“We appreciate our customers’ charitable involvement and look forward to giving back locally with this exciting and newly implemented national program,” said Steve Sadove, chairman and CEO, Saks Inc.

Deerfield, Ill. -- BioScrip Inc. said it will sell certain assets of its community specialty pharmacies and centralized specialty and mail service pharmacy businesses to Walgreens for about $225 million.

The deal includes about $170 million in cash at closing and retention by BioScrip of associated accounts receivable and working capital liabilities of about $55 million.

Hong Kong -- Esprit Holdings said Thursday that it will close all 93 of its stores in North America, after abandoning previously announced plans to sell off the business or find a licensed operator to run the stores.

However, according to an emailed statement by Patrick Lau, head of investor relations and mergers and acquisitions, Esprit plans to find one or more license partners to maintain the brand’s presence in North America.

Washington, D.C. -- The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index revealed Thursday that consumer confidence in the U.S. climbed for the second week in a row, suggesting rising optimism about economic issues.

The Index rose to minus 44.8 in the period to Jan. 29 from minus 46.4 the previous week. A measure of Americans’ view of the state of economy climbed to the highest since June, according to the report.