Corporate Governance

Half of all American households might have an Amazon Prime membership by the end of this year.

Cowen and Company analyst John Blackledge estimates that approximately 44% of U.S. households are Prime members, and that  penetration could accelerate to 50% by the end of the year, according to a report by CNBC.   

Prime has maintained healthy growth largely due to [its] increasing value proposition," Blackledge said. 

One of the country’s oldest online grocers just secured a major cash infusion to help it expand its services.   FreshDirect has received a $189 million investment, led by JPMorgan Asset Management, that will be used to launch its grocery delivery service in more cities, to expand new business units and incubate others, reported RECode.   

Dollar stores and off-price chains account for half of the spots on a list of 10 retailers adding the most new store square footage, according to commercial real estate and analytics firm CoStar.       Walmart tops the list, followed by Dollar General and Forever 21, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.     Click here to read more.

It’s sad, but true: companies are still taking a “don’t ask, don’t tell” stance when it comes to owning up to data breaches.   

dd's Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, will open its first store in Colorado on Sept. 24.   The new 20,000 sq. ft. store is located at University Square Plaza in Greeley, Col. It is part of the company's 2016 expansion plan to add approximately 20 dd's locations nationally throughout the year.  With the opening, dd's will operate 193 locations in 15 states.  

Kohl’s Corp. is expanding its smaller-store format.   The retailer is opening six, smaller-format stores on Sept. 30, all in the Midwest, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported.   The locations are all in the Midwest, with two in Wisconsin, and one each in South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. The stores average approximately 35,000 sq. ft. each, according to the report.

A “Rally at the Rack” party is planned for Oct. 6 in downtown New Orleans for the opening of Nordstrom Rack’s store at The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk.   Nordstrom Rack will anchor the south side of the center, which owner Howard Hughes Corporation bills as the nation’s first downtown outlet location. Among the 75-or-so retail brands already doing business there are Guess Factory Store, Kay Jewelers Outlet, Neiman Marcus Last Call Studio, Reebok Outlet Store, and Wilson’s Leather.  

Accruent, a leading global provider of real estate, facilities and asset management solutions, has acquired Verisae, a provider of cloud-based solutions that connect facilities and assets to the maintenance and service network through the Internet of Things (IoT).