Corporate Governance

In a sign that omnichannel is becoming more important to Nike’s business, the vertical specialty athletic retailer has named Adam Sussman as its first chief digital officer.

Sussman will report to Trevor Edwards, president of Nike brand.

Prior to joining Nike, Sussman held multiple positions in the interactive gaming and entertainment industries, including EA Mobile and Disney Interactive. He has worked in areas including general management, marketing, strategic planning and digital product commercialization.

Retail industry sales will grow an estimated 3.1% in 2016, outpacing the 10 year industry average, as economic headwinds diminish, according to a forecast released by the National Retail Federation.

The NRF sales forecast of 3.1% excludes automobiles, gas stations and restaurants and exceeds the 10 year growth rate of 2.7%. Non-store retail sales are forecast to growth between 6% and 9%.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is publicly supporting what it calls “e-fairness” legislation that would extend the reach of state sales taxes to online transactions.

Under present regulations, a state can only charge a sales tax on an Internet sale conducted by an entity that has some type of physical presence in that state.

Same store sales literally fell off a cliff at Citi Trends in the waning days of the fourth quarter and the operator of 522 urban fashion stores is attributing the weakness to the federal government.

Women’s apparel retailer Joyce Leslie is calling it a day.

The company announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court for a sale of its intellectual property and retail store leases, along with the lease of its corporate office and distribution center.

Staples secured approval of its acquisition of Office Depot from European regulators after agreeing to numerous concessions. Now similar actions may be required if the company is to win over a stubborn U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Staples said it received approval from the European Union to acquire Office Depot, highlighted a range of actions it took to alleviate the regulator’s competitive concerns and used the action to take a jab at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties announced that it closed on a new 10/90 joint venture for Triangle Town Center and Commons in Raleigh, North Carolina, with DRA Advisors. The new joint venture acquired the property from the existing 50/50 joint venture between CBL and The Richard E. Jacobs Group for a total consideration of $174.0 million, including assumption of a $171.1 million loan secured by the property. CBL now holds a 10% ownership position in the asset and is responsible for leasing and managing, earning customary fees.

Strength in the furniture and mattress category during the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to help Conn’s avert same-store sales decline with each of the company’s other merchandise classifications reporting weakness.

Conn’s said its total sales for January increased 7.9% to $101 million and for the three months ended Jan. 31, sales increased 7.4% to $376.5 million. The gains were the result on news stores as same stores sales at the specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics declined 2.3%.