Corporate Governance

Boca Raton, Fla. — A deal that would leave the nation with one giant office-supply retailer is one step nearer to completion.

Office Depot shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposed $6.3 billion buyout offer from rival Staples Inc., with 99.5 % of the votes cast in favor of the merger.

Staples proposed to acquire Office Depot in February in a cash-and-stock deal. Under the deal, Office Depot shareholders will get $7.25 per share in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock for each Office Depot share held.

Aeropostale is losing a key executive and handing over merchandising responsibilities to the company's CEO. 

Oak Brook, Ill. — McDonald's is letting customers really have it their way. The fast-food giant has launched an expansion of its "Create Your Taste" program to a new location in San Francisco. The customized burger building system that allows customers to order from a tablet-like kiosk where they can customize everything from choice of buns and cheese to toppings and sauces.

Ever-growing Amazon.com Inc. is expanding its e-commerce capabilities in Target's home turf.

The e-commerce behemoth has announced it will open an 850,000 square foot fulfillment center in the Minneapolis area, its first DC in the state of Minnesota.

Flying Tiger, the U.S. banner of Danish discounter Tiger, has landed in Manhattan, opening a 5,000-sq.-ft. outpost in the Flatiron district. The store has a modern Scandinavian look, with white walls, light wood flooring and a single aisle that winds through the space. The design focuses all the attention on the quirky, eclectic and very affordable product.

Walmart is moving its greeters back to the front of the store three years after the retailer moved them to the back.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the retailer is experimenting with moving the greeters back to the front of the store in part to deter theft. Walmart is testing the approach in several hundred of its 4,500 or so U.S. stores, the newspaper says.

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New York -- Target Corp. has laid off about 140 employees from its Minneapolis headquarters as part of its transformation efforts, and eliminated 50 open positions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Including the latest round of cuts, Target has let go about 2,500 workers this year.

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The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that Target laid off 140 staffers and eliminated 50 open positions at its headquarters on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, the eliminated positions were in places “we identified redundancies or opportunities for greater efficiencies,” Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. 

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