Corporate Governance

Leading brand consultancy Interbrand named Josh Feldmeth CEO to succeed Lee Carpenter who is leaving the firm after 12 years.

In his role as CEO of Interbrand North America, Feldmeth will be based in New York and oversee the company’s New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Dayton, Cincinnati and BrandWizard offices. Feldmeth previously served as CEO of Interbrand’s New York, San Francisco and Toronto offices. He will report to Interbrand’s global CEO Jez Frampton.

Sales at Tractor Supply’s 1,331 stores topped $1.5 billion during the first quarter but decelerating comp store growth and cool spring weather weighed on profit growth.

Sales at the nation’s largest rural lifestyle retailer increased 8.8% to $1.58 billion from $1.46 billion while same store sales advanced 1.9% on top of a prior year gain of 7.2%. Profits during the company’s second quarter ended June 28 increased 8% to $133.4 million, or 95 cents a share, compared to $123.6 million, or 87 cents a share.

A jump in mobile ads and daily users contributed to another strong quarter for Facebook — one that also beat analyst expectations.   For the second quarter ended June 30, total revenue rose 45% to $9.32 billion. This is a significant jump from $6.436 billion for the same period in 2016.    Revenues for the quarter also beat analyst forecasts of $9.20 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. This is the ninth straight quarter that Facebook has exceeded analyst expectations.  

New York -- Footwear maker Crocs Inc., best known for its colorful plastic clogs, announced a major restructuring that includes closing stores and job cutbacks.

The plan comes on the heels of the company's disappointing second-quarter earnings results. Earlier this month, Crocs reported that second-quarter profit fell 44% to $19.7 million.

Warrendale, Pa. - Specialty apparel retailer Rue21 is upgrading to the latest version of the Epicor Retail Store POS solution. Leveraging Epicor Retail Store, Rue21 will unify the customer experience across e-commerce and brick and mortar locations for simplified, streamlined operations, including returns management, and also support planned growth to 1,700 stores.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Lowe's announced plans to locate a customer support center in Indianapolis, creating up to 1,000 new jobs by 2016.

The retailer plans to invest $20.5 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 140,000-sq.-ft. office facility at Intech Park 12, 6620 Network Way, on the northwest side of Indianapolis. The new center will support stores and internet sales, delivery services and repair services for Lowe's customers across the United States.

Bogota, Colombia – Colombian coffee retailer Juan Valdez has opened the first of 60 planned stores in Miami, with official grand opening scheduled for July 28. The downtown location is the first Juan Valdez store in Miami besides an existing store at Miami International Airport.

Tewksbury, Mass. – The saga over the dismissal of former Demoulas Super Markets Inc. CEO Arthur T. Demoulas continues, with Demoulas making public commentary for the first time.

Plano, Texas – Net earnings at Rent-A-Center Inc. fell 58% year-over-year in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, to $17.5 million from $41.9 million. Costs related to pretax restructuring and the consolidation of 150 stores into core U.S. stores helped reduce total net earnings.

Plano, Texas – Net earnings at Rent-A-Center Inc. fell 58% year-over-year in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, to $17.5 million from $41.9 million. Costs related to pretax restructuring and the consolidation of 150 stores into core U.S. stores helped reduce total net earnings.