Trading Partners

Barnes & Noble named Tulane University president Scott Cowen to its board a after a major shareholder disclosed it was dumping 90% of its stake in the company and relinquishing a seat on the board of directors.

Cowen serves as president of Tulane University in New Orleans and also holds the titles of Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor of Business in Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and Professor of Economics in the School of Liberal Arts.

Cardtronics has extended its ATM services agreement with Walgreens, the company announced Wednesday. Cardtronics is a preferred provider of ATM services for Walgreens.  

Since the relationship began in 2004, Cardtronics has grown its ATM presence in Walgreens locations significantly — from fewer than 400 initially to roughly 3,250 today. The company is also the exclusive ATM provider for Walgreens in many states across the U.S.

New York -- Liberty Media Corp. has entered into agreements to reduce its stake in Barnes & Noble. Liberty Media informed Barnes & Noble that while Liberty has sold the majority of its shares to qualified institutional buyers, it will retain approximately 10% of its initial $204 million investment, which could be converted to a 17% ownership stake.

Long time Target supplier J.L. Childress said six of its products were added to Target’s in store travel assortment.

The products are geared toward parents of babies and young children and include variety of bags to simplify life for on the go parents with infants and young children in tow. J.L. Childress has items available for sale on the Target website, however, the new products carried in the stores are unique and not available online, according to the company.

Seattle -- Starbucks on Wednesday released its 13th Global Responsibility Report, which highlights the company’s progress on long-term goals for community engagement, sustainability and ethical sourcing. The coffee giant also announced the launch of its fourth annual Global Month of Service, with Starbucks employees, customers and community members once again coming together to help contribute more than one million community service hours per year by 2015.

Robert M. Long, former president, CEO and chairman of Longs Drug Stores passed away March 27 due to complications, which occurred as a result of inclusion body myositis.  

Long was a well-known industry veteran having led Longs Drug Stores for more than 20 years. His retirement from the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based pharmacy retailer as CEO in 2000 marked the first time that a member of the founding family was not heading the company.

Chestnut Hill, Mass., and Greensboro, N.C. — Tanger Factory Outlet Centers and WS Development have announced plans to partner on the development of an upscale outlet center in Cheshire, Conn. The two companies will co-own the center, which is now in the pre-development stage.

Located at the I-691 and Route 10 interchange, the site features visibility and convenience.

San Francisco -- Wells Fargo & Company and Dillard’s have entered into an agreement for Wells Fargo to fund, issue and service Dillard’s-branded private label and co-brand credit cards. Wells Fargo will also manage the cardholder loyalty program for Dillard’s.

The program agreement has a 10-year term and is anticipated to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2014, following the scheduled expiration of Dillard’s current program agreement. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.