Corporate Governance

Ron Johnson Launching Retail Start-Up
Former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is back in the game. Johnson, who prior to joining Penney headed up Apple’s retail store operations for nearly 12 years, is launching a new company — called Enjoy — and contrary to earlier rumors, it’s not an on-demand tech-gadget delivery service. Instead, it’s a service to help online shoppers make the right product choices.

Johnson isn’t divulging much about his new start-up, or exactly what it will offer.
Best of the Best: Top CEOs
To some folks, he’s an innovator, a genius who has fundamentally transformed the retail equation. To others, he’s a bully. And now Jeff Bezos has a new label: the world’s best-performing CEO.

The designation comes way of the Harvard Business Review’s 2014 ranking of the 100 best-performing CEOs. The list offers the only ranking of global CEOs’ performances over their entire tenure.

Eddie Bauer opening holiday pop-up with Twitter-activated vending machine

Seattle -- Eddie Bauer is opening a pop-up store in New York City on Thursday, Nov. 6. The pop-up will be open through Feb. 14, 2015 and transform into a permanent flagship store to reopen in spring 2015. The store is located in the Union Square area of Manhattan.
Office Depot beats estimates; raises full-year outlook

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot on Tuesday reported better-than-expected results for third quarter and raised its outlook for the year. The retailer posted a profit of $29 million for the third quarter compared with $133 million in the year-ago quarter. The previous-year quarter included a gain on the sale of the Office Depot de Mexico joint venture. Sales grew 55% to $4.07 billion, fueled by the addition of OfficeMax.
Paul Frank to open omnichannel holiday pop-up store

Los Angeles -- Lifestyle brand Paul Frank is launching a pop-up shop at the Paramount Hotel in New York City, now through Jan. 30, 2015, with omnichannel features. Customers can participate in two digital activations featuring the face of Paul Frank, Julius the monkey.
U.S. households plan to spend an average of $538 on gifts this holiday season

New York -- U.S. households plan to spend an average of $538 on gifts this holiday season, up slightly from $528 last year, The Conference Board reports today. About 8% of consumers say they plan to spend more this year on holiday gifts, while approximately 32% plan to spend less. The remaining 60% plan to spend about the same as last year.
PwC: Retail and consumer mega deals hits seven year high in Q3

New York -- Retail and consumer merger and acquisition activity in the United States during the third quarter of 2014 was driven by the highest volume of mega deals (deals with a value of over $1 billion) in at least seven years, leading to overall transaction value jumping significantly during the quarter when compared to the year ago period, according to PwC’s U.S. retail and consumer deals insights Q3 2014 report.
CVS Q3 revenue up 10%

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Health Corp. on Tuesday reported slightly higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped in part by growth in sales of specialty drugs. Net income decreased 24% to $900 million from $1.21 billion in the year-ago period, primarily due to a $521 million pre-tax loss on the early extinguishment of debt.
Foot Locker CEO Ken Hicks to retire; COO to assume role

New York -- Foot Locker Inc. announced that, as part of a planned succession process, Ken Hicks, 61, intends to retire as president and CEO of the company on Dec. 1, 2014. Hicks, a highly-regarded retail veteran who has been wooed by other retailers for the top spot, will be succeeded as president and CEO by COO Richard (Dick) A. Johnson, 56, who has been with Foot Locker for almost two decades.
J.C. Penney starts Black Friday 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day

Plano, Texas -- The J.C. Penney Co. Inc. will open stores and begin its Black Friday sale activities at 5 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving Day. The company announced its plans via a tweet on the official JCPenney news account. This start time is an hour earlier than the 6 p.m. Thanksgiving opening time of competing department stores Macy’s and Sears, and three hours earlier than the 8 p.m. opening time Penney used for Thanksgiving 2013.
Nielsen: North American consumer confidence up in Q3

New York -- Consumer confidence in the North America region improved four points to 107 on the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index for the third quarter of 2014. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively, with the latest results reflecting an outlook of cautious optimism.
HSN beats Street with Q3 profit, revenue

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- HSN Inc. beat Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income totaled $39.5 million, down 6% from $42.1 million in the prior year period. A higher effective tax rate helped decrease profits at HSN. Net sales rose 5% to $837.5 million from $798.9 million. Digital sales were up 7% and mobile sales increased 37%, with mobile now representing 16% of HSN’s total business.