Corporate Governance

After initially quibbling with an investigation that found instances of incorrectly priced products at stores in New York, Whole Foods co-CEOs, Walter Robb and John Mackey offered a mea culpa in a YouTube video.

The nearly two minute video appeared on Whole Foods YouTube channel on July 1, eight days after the New York Daily News first published an article based on an investigation by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in Montrose, Colorado, on July 18, as well as a new store in Phoenix on the same day, adding to its western U.S. store counts.

The 27,000-sq.-ft. Montrose, Colorado, store is located in the River Landing shopping center at US Highway 550 and Rio Grande Avenue, 60 miles southeast of Grand Junction.  

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. has tapped Ronald D. Boire, currently president and CEO of Sears Canada Inc., to become the CEO of its new retail division, effective Sept. 8.

Family Dollar had a dip in profit in the third quarter as the company reported higher costs ahead of its planned merger with Dollar Tree.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. reported a profit of $79.9 million, or 70 cents a share, for the third quarter ended May 30, down from $81.1 million, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring- and merger-related charges, the company’s profit was 74 cents a share, compared with 85 cents a year earlier. Net sales rose 2.60% to $2.73 billion.

Houston -- Houston-based Baker Katz, an X Team International partner and full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm, announced the acquisition of a 2.12-acre property with an existing 13,000-sq.-ft. office building located near the cross streets of U.S. Highway 59 N and West Little York Road in Houston.

Littleton, Mass. – Specialty equestrian retailer Dover Saddlery Inc. is jumping into a new business arrangement.

Dover Saddlery has completed its merger with a company formed by Webster Capital. Dover shareholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash in the merger, and all in-the-money stock options and warrants will be cashed out.

QVC has named a Procter & Gamble veteran as its next business planning and analysis chief, as the company looks tomaximize efficiencies and organizational synergy.

Having passed the calendar’s mid-point, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the top 10 most-viewed stories of the year (to date) on Chainstoreage.com.