Corporate Governance

Pep Boys makes acquisition
Pep Boys is expanding its national service center footprint in the Phoenix area. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Icahn Automotive Group, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Advanced Auto Service & Tire Centers. Advance operates 15 service centers in Arizona, with the majority in the Phoenix area. The Advance locations will be transitioned to Pep Boys Service & Tire Centers.
Home furnishings giant to open flagship in New York
Pottery Barn is bringing its new store concept to the city where it all began. The retailer, a division of Williams-Sonoma, will unveil a 17,000-sq.-ft. flagship on September 8, 2017, in Manhattan's Flatiron District. (The first Pottery Barn store opened in 1949 in the West Chelsea section of lower Manhattan.)

Sporting goods retailer in new store openings

It's going to be a busy September for Dick's Sporting Goods. The retailer will open eight namesake stores and two new Field & Stream stores in the first half of September, including three locations in California. The openings will give the company 711 Dick's locations and 34 Field & Stream locations across the country.
Discounter’s head of risk and compliance to depart

Target is losing another key executive. Jackie Rice, Target's chief risk and compliance officer, announced she will be leaving the company at the end of the month. Rice announced that leaving is a personal decision, and she wants to be closer to her family who lives outside of Minneapolis, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal.
Report: Alibaba to open a physical mall in China

An e-commerce giant is making a big push into the brick-and-mortar world. Alibaba, China’s largest online sales platform, is building its own shopping mall, with a goal of enriching the real-world shopping experience with technology and convenience, reported MarketWatch.
Report: Department store retailer hires turnaround firm

The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.'s struggles may be catching up with it.
Regulatory Wrap-Up: Obama overtime rule struck down

Wages
Overtime: A federal district court judge officially struck down the Obama-era overtime rule which would have raised the overtime threshold to $47,476/yr. The same judge issued a stay of the rule last December. The final decision was based on the argument that job responsibilities, and not just salary levels alone, should have been considered in setting the threshold.
Amazon Prime Now to make its Canadian debut

Amazon is getting ready to introduce its same-day delivery service in its 10th country. Canada will be the newest country to offer Amazon Prime Now’s free two-hour delivery service. The online giant reportedly plans to pilot the program in Vancouver. Based on positive results, Amazon will expand the service to other Canadian cities throughout 2018, according to Nasdaq.
New stores fuel online growth

Brick-and-mortar stores are crucial to supporting a retailer's e-commerce growth.
At Home beats Q2 estimates; raises sales outlook

At Home Group is on a roll — and then some. The fast-growing, value home decor retailer on Tuesday reported its 14th consecutive quarter of same-store sales increases and 13th consecutive quarter of over 20% net sales growth. In the second quarter ended July 29, At Home's net sales increased 23.2% to $232.1 million, from $188.4 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected sales of $227.1 million. Same-store sales rose 7.8%.
Discount giant steps up cloud and AI initiatives

Walmart is making a bold move as it continues to seek out ways to distance itself from Amazon. The discount giant is investing in Nvidia chips. These high-level graphical processing units (GPUs) will be the foundation of a robust cloud network where Walmart data scientists can build out AI systems, reported Geek Wire.
Dollar General beats Street, but profit slides; ups forecast

Dollar General turned in mixed results for its second quarter, with gains in sales but a dip in profits and a decline in gross margins. Net sales rose 8.1% to $5.83 billion in the quarter ended Aug. 4, compared to $5.39 billion in the year-ago quarter, better than analysts were expecting. Same-store sales increased 2.6%, also better than expected, driven by increases in average transaction amounts and customer traffic.