Corporate Governance

Jegs Automotive Inc. has appointed a veteran marketing executive as its new chief executive.    The family-owned high-performance auto parts retailer on Wednesday announced it has appointed Jeffrey Hennion as its new CEO, effective Oct. 16. Most recently, Hennion served three years at GNC Holdings, where he was executive VP, chief marketing & e-commerce officer. He resigned in June.   

Energy is the fourth largest in-store operating cost for retailers, with the average 50,000-sq.-ft. retail building spending around $90,000 each year on energy costs. Retail building managers are constantly trying to better regulate their buildings’ energy costs, so understanding where those charges come from can be extremely beneficial.   

As it heads into its most important selling season, Sears Holding Corp. is receiving another cash infusion from its CEO and largest shareholder.   Sears is borrowing $100 million from units of CEO Eddie Lampert's hedge fund ESL Investments for "general corporate purposes," according to a regulatory filing. The new infusion brings the total of Lampert's outstanding loans to Sears to $499.4 million.   

Amazon is preparing for its newest physical store — and promoting its alcoholic products at the same time.   The online giant is opening a pop-up bar in Tokyo’s Ginza district. The location, which will be open for 10 days, will sell beer, wine, sake and cocktails sold on its Japanese website, as well as exclusive products and samples not yet for sale, according to Bloomberg.  

Commercial real estate developers and investors surveyed this summer by the DLA Piper law firm concurred that reports of the demise of brick-and-mortar are greatly exaggerated.   Only 8% of the 222 respondents to the survey, most of them C-level executives, agreed with the statement that brick-and-mortar is “doomed.” That said, just 3% were of the opinion that traditional retail was here to say.  

Ikea is entering new territory.   The retailer will open a store on Oct. 11, in Fishers, Indiana. It will be Swedish company’s first location in Indiana, 45th in the United States, and 408th worldwide.    The 289,000-sq.-ft. Ikea includes one of Indiana’s largest solar rooftops, as well as three electric vehicle charging stations. Ninety percent of Ikea U.S. stores have a solar presence.   

A New England-based retailer that has the distinction of being the first curtain catalog company is closing up shop.    Shareholders of The Fitzpatrick Companies, whose subsidiaries include Country Curtains, voted Wednesday to liquidate the 61-year-old business. Country Curtains will begin liquidating operations immediately, and a going-out-of-business sale will be launched in its 19 retail stores (and website) starting on Oct. 5. The stores will close by the end of the year.  

The European Union has hit Amazon with a tax bill.    The online giant was ordered to pay 250 million euros ($294 million) plus interest in back taxes to Luxembourg on Wednesday after the European Commission said the retailer had received illegal tax benefits.   "Luxembourg gave illegal tax benefits to Amazon. As a result, almost three quarters of Amazon's profits were not taxed," Margrethe Vestager, the EU's commissioner for competition, said in a statement.