Corporate Governance

Neiman Marcus’s legendary Christmas Book turns 90 this year, but age has not dimmed its over-the-top appeal.   On Wednesday, the luxe retailer unveiled the 90th edition of its annual holiday catalog and, in keeping with past years, it includes a collection (12 to be exact) of indulgent—and very pricey — fantasy gifts.       

Amazon shoppers will have new venues where they can pick up and re-turn orders — local malls.   Washington Prime Group Inc. has entered into a partnership with Ama-zon to add self-service Amazon Lockers at 50 of its retail centers. The lockers, which are destinations where customers can pick up and return Amazon.com packages, will begin popping up as soon as next month.    

Supervalu Inc. posted disappointing sales results for its second quarter as the company continues to shift its business toward wholesale distribution.       The company released its second quarter results just days after it entered into an agreement to sell its Save-A-Lot discount grocery chain to Canadian private equity firm Onex for $1.37 billion in cash.   

Nan Richardson, a veteran architecture/design/commercial real estate business development, marketing and public relations professional, has joined brand agency and retail design consultancy CBX as engagement director, branded environments.   In her new position, Richardson will work to connect with prospects, build relationships and develop new business opportunities for CBX in the retail, restaurant, hospitality and commercial real estate industries.  She will be based in Newport Beach, Calif.  

The past decade has witnessed a monumental shift in regulatory oversight of retailers’ environmental compliance programs. As a result, retailers have faced a crash course in the myriad hazardous waste control laws, once widely believed to not be relevant in the retail context.   Historically, most enforcement has been at the state and local level. But in just the past month, we’ve seen a flurry of retail-related activity from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including the following:  

The Wet Seal is going to be very busy on Nov. 3.   That’s the day the retailer, in partnership with GGP, will open 13 holiday pop-up locations at GGP regional shopping centers throughout the nation.   "We see an opportunity for additional brick and mortar locations during the peak holiday season," said Wet Seal CEO Melanie Cox.    The temporary stores will range from 3,000 sq. ft. to 5,000 sq. ft. each.  

Once the mecca of “Valley Girls” lured by white marble interiors and retailers like Saks and I. Magnin, the Promenade Mall in Warner Center north of Los Angeles will be razed and replaced by a $1.5 billion mixed-use development.   Westfield, owner of the 43-year-old, 550,000-sq.-ft. mall, has announced a re-imagination of the site in line with the Los Angeles City Council’s Warner Center 2035 plan to urbanize the area.  

In line with driving the company’s digital services, Wakefern is turning its attention to mobile payments.   Specifically, it will enable customers to use Chase Pay when paying for groceries at its ShopRite and The Fresh Grocer stores. The mobile wallet allows customers to input Chase Visa consumer credit and debit cards into the app, then use the solution to digitally make purchases, and earn rewards. Token technology keeps payments more secures.