Corporate Governance

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Kohl’s Corp. exceeded Wall Street expectations for profit but missed analysts’ expectations with its sales and same-store sales performance during a mixed first quarter of fiscal 2015.

Net income climbed 2% to $127 million from $125 million in the year-earlier period, aided by improved expense management.

Target is shedding an obscure division that many people didn’t even know existed, as CEO Brian Cornell continues with his transformation of the company.

The company announced it will sell Target Commercial Interiors (TCI), a subsidiary that provides office furnishings and related services for business and commercial clients.

Minneapolis-based Omni Workspace Company, more commonly known as A&M Business Interior Services, will acquire TCI and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary. TCI will be renamed following the completion of the acquisition.

Milwaukee – A sharp reduction in loss from continuing operations, primarily related to the sale of the Rainbow banner to Supervalu, helped Roundy’s Inc. cut net loss to $2.33 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, from $4.52 million the same quarter a year earlier. Net sales rose 14% to $981.93 million from $862.69 million, while same-store sales dropped 1.6%.

Skechers USA Inc. is making a big donation to support children affected by the earthquake in Nepal.

The company says it will give more than 62,000 pairs of new shoes to children in that nation. The company has distributed 11 million pairs of shoes to children in need worldwide since its BOBS charitable program launched in 2011.

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. is denying reports that hackers illegally gained entry into accounts of some users of its mobile app. Multiple media reports have indicated hackers broke into hundreds of accounts of Starbucks app users, stole their stored value, and leveraged the reload function to obtain customer payment card data.

In a statement, Starbucks said news reports of a hack are false and that it occasionally receives reports of unauthorized activity caused by criminals re-using names and passwords stolen from other customer accounts.

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. has confirmed that there was an “illegal intrusion” into the company’s payment card systems. It is the retailer’s second data breach in a little over the year. Here are insights on the breach from four security experts:

Steve Hultquist, chief evangelist at RedSeal, the security analytics company:

Five Below is accelerating its expansion plans with the opening of three new stores in Kansas City this week.

"Entering the Kansas City metro area and opening our first store in Kansas, our 24th state, is very exciting as we continue to grow our footprint across the country," said Joel Anderson, CEO of Five Below. "We're thrilled to develop new relationships with customers in this dynamic market. Kids and parents looking for a fun place to shop for trend-right, high quality products at a great value will surely enjoy Five Below."

Photo: Stefan Sjostrand, managing director, Ikea Canada