Corporate Governance

E-commerce site Rakuten is expanding its corporate social responsibility efforts with several scholarship opportunities in Japan and around the world.

The cornerstone of its new efforts is its Global Citizens Summit, which will bring together 24 students from around the world at Boston’s Harvard Faculty Club from Aug. 2 to 9. The summit is being hosted with assistance from nonprofit Global Citizens Initiative, which works to build leaders among students, and the participants will meet throughout the week to discuss global issues.

Belk president and chief merchandising officer Kathryn Bufano was named president at CEO of The Bon-Ton Stores late Thursday.

Nordstrom has entered into an agreement to acquire Trunk Club, a personalized clothing service for men.

Trunk Club delivers a stylist service that combines the convenience of online with a high-touch, personalized shopping experience. Nordstrom plans to leverage the acquisition to offer superior customer service and a seamless shopping experience.

Seattle – Amazon.com is making a serious bid to control the Indian e-commerce market with a planned $2 billion investment in its Indian operation. In a statement emailed to major U.S. media outlets, Amazon said it sees “huge potential” in India’s economy and e-commerce market.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market reported that profit for the third quarter rose to $151 million from $142 million last year, but revenue and same-store sales missed projections, sending the organic grocer’s shares downward.

Revenue rose to $3.38 billion from $3.06 billion, shy of the $3.39 billion expected by Wall Street. Same-store sales rose 3.9%, well short of the estimated 4.9% gain and marking the worst performance in at least 14 quarters.

Atlanta -- First Data has taken a key step toward expanding its payment services by acquiring Gyft Inc., the Silicon Valley-based company that entered the $100 billion gift card market in 2012 and pioneered the concept of a mobile wallet for gift cards.

Bangalore, India – Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart has received about $1 billion in funding from investors including existing backer Tiger Global Management, as well as new stakeholders Morgan Stanley and Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC. Flipkart operates as an online marketplace for 3,000 individual merchants, similar to China’s Alibaba.com.

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal is rebranding its Bill Me Later online credit service as PayPal Credit. PayPal says it is making the name change as it moves credit more towards the center of our business, aligning it more closely with the overall brand.

In addition, PayPal plans to introduce PayPal Credit to the U.K. and Germany, based on requests from customers and retailers. The company also plans to expand PayPal Credit to other markets in the future.

Chicago — Regency Centers announced the groundbreaking of a new 40,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market, located 25 miles from downtown Chicago in Schererville, Indiana.

The new store, situated in The Shops on Main shopping center, is projected to open in fall 2015. Current tenants include Homegoods, Gordmans, Ross Dress for Less, and DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse.

New York — Nordstrom has announced plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at the Empire Outlets in Staten Island. The 34,000-sq.-ft. store is scheduled to open in fall 2016. The property is being developed by BFC Partners.