Corporate Governance

Simon, a global leader in retail real estate, has appointed retail and real estate executive Stephen Yalof as CEO of premium outlets and senior EVP of Simon.

Yalof has served as SVP of real estate for Ralph Lauren Corporation since 2002. His 15 years of experience within the retail industry also includes his role as senior director of real estate for Gap. Yalof began his career in real estate under the leadership of Arnold Labich at New Plan Realty Trust, and became VP of leasing for their factory outlet business.  

If Amazon makes good on its guidance for the second quarter, sales during the period ended June 30 rose somewhere between 15% and 26% to range from $18.1 billion to $19.8 billion.

Fairway Market has doubled in size in the past three years and, to help further its growth strategy, it has renewed its Revionics Price Optimization license for three years and expanded the agreement to include the use of Revionics Promotion Optimization.

The partnership between Fairway Market and Revionics began more than two years ago. The company leverages Revionics’ solutions to manage and optimize its rapid growth across all product categories, including key value items (KVIs), the company said.

Leading footwear manufacturer and retailer Wolverine World Wide plans to close 140 stores in the next 18 months as part of a strategic realignment plan focused on strengthening omnichannel capabilities.

Most of the stores to be closed operate under the company’s Stride Rite banner. Sixty of the units will close by year end with the remainder to close next year, the company said. The disclosure was made in conjunction with the release of solid financial results for the company’s second quarter ended July 14.

Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS Caremark said Monday that it has agreed to buy the assets of Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy, the largest Hispanic-owned drug store chain in the U.S. The transaction includes Navarro's 33 retail drugstore locations and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases.

New York -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba increased its valuation to $130 billion less than a month before its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new figure is approximately $13 billion more than the company valued itself at in its original filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

Alibaba is expected to raise more than $20 billion, which would make it one of the largest offerings ever.

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea is submitting plans to Clark County, Nevada, for a Las Vegas-area store that would increase the Swedish retailer’s presence in the western United States.

The application marks the beginning of an approval process that could lead to the store’s opening as early as summer 2016.

New York -- Barbara Turf, 71,  former CEO of Crate and Barrel, died July 12, at Evanston Hospital, of pancreatic cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Turf was named CEO in 2008, after Crate & Barrel founder and longtime chief executive Gordon Segal retired. She joined Crate and Barrel as a part-time saleswoman in 1967, moving to its corporate headquarters in 1974. Turf retired as CEO in 2012 and joined the company's board of directors, the company said in a statement.

New York -- Visa has entered into an agreement with Borderfree, a leading international cross-border e-commerce solutions provider, to offer customers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan, special promotions from retailers in the United States.

Atlanta -- Consumer spending slowed in June but remained positive on a year-over-year basis with a growth of 3%, according to First Data SpendTrend analysis, which tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million merchant locations serviced by First Data.