Strategy

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. said Tuesday that its veteran marketing chief Mike Boylson has retired from the company. His successor will be selected by newly minted CEO Ron Johnson in what will be the former Apple executive’s first senior-level appointment at J.C. Penney.

Boylson was with the department store chain for more than three decades, the last eight years as chief marketing officer. He said in June he would retire from the company on July 1, according to a J.C. Penney spokeswoman.

Chemsford, Mass. -- Fewer people applied for jobs in the retail sector in June, according to the July Kronos Retail Labor Index.  The July report includes data for June 2011.

The number of applications received by retailers in the Kronos sample fell sharply in June 2011, to just 900,164 from a revised 1,149,879 in May, all on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was the lowest number of applications received since November 2007 and nearly 17%  below its level one year ago. 

NEW YORK — Global consumer confidence cautiously edged up one index point to 93 in the second quarter as confidence increases in booming Asian markets were offset by European consumers’ growing concerns of an escalating debt crisis, which battered confidence levels in Spain, Italy and France, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index. Consumer confidence rose two points in the U.S. in Q2 to 87.

Denton, Md. -- Walmart will break ground on a new supercenter in Denton, Maryland, the week of September 19. The 152,888-sq.-ft.  store will also feature a Subway.

Walmart currently operates 35 stores and 12 Sam's Clubs in the state of Maryland.

Shares of Target are mis-valued at current levels around $50 and could eventually double if the company delivers on plans achieve $100 billion in sales and earnings per share of $8 by 2016 or 2017.

That’s according to Bernstein Research analyst Colin McGranahan who noted in a recent research report that he spent time at Target’s Minneapolis headquarter where he met with chairman, president and CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, CFO Doug Scovanner and EVP merchandising Kathee Tesija.

Addison, Texas — Coyote Management, L.P. and Garrison Investment Group announced that Lakeshore Mall, in Gainesville, Ga., is undergoing a renovation that includes extensive landscaping upgrades, new branding campaign, banners, directional signage, reopened customer service, gift card program and children’s strollers.

This week, said the companies, the property will begin construction on a new 11’ x 26’ monument sign and over $25,000 in landscaping. The project is scheduled to be complete by the end of July.

Nine of the 21 new store openings Target has planned for this year are scheduled to open on July 24. Among the openings is a new unit in Hilo, Hawaii, the company’s fourth store in Hawaii, two units in San Luis Obispo and Oxnard, Calif. and two units in the Pennsylvania cities of Hanover and Pittsburgh. The Phoenix suburb of Chandler gets a new Target as do Moore, Okla., Kenner, La. And Swansea, Mass.

The openings planned for October are said to included units in San Clemente and Dublin, Ca., Gastonia and Morrisville, N.C., Blue Ash, Ohio and Warwick Township, Pa.

New York — Liz Claiborne Inc. is looking to sell its Mexx apparel brand to a private-equity firm, according to Bloomberg. Leonard Green & Partners, Sun Capital and Golden Gate Capital are among the firms that have shown an interested in Mexx, the report said.

Final bids are due within a few weeks with a sale expected to be completed in September, Bloomberg said.