Corporate Governance

New York -- Expansion plans are under way at surging Tractor Supply Co., which had a 5.7% increase in same store sales and a 19% increase in earnings in the first quarter.

The Tennessee-based retailer said it plans to open 110 to 115 new stores in 2015, as well as build a new distribution center in Casa Grande, Ariz. For the first quarter, same store transaction count increased 4.8% and average ticket increased 0.8%. Pet and heating consumables, fencing, truck accessories and tools all performed well, the company said.

New York -- O’Reilly Automotive posted a strong first quarter, laying the foundation for continued growth in 2015. America’s second largest retailer in the automotive aftermarket industry said its expansion plans are on track after profit rose in the first quarter on higher sales and better margins, continuing a trend of 15% or greater profit growth for the past six years. The company said it plans to build a new distribution center in Texas to help support its 205 new stores in 2015.

Seattle - REI will open a third distribution center, located in Goodyear, Arizona. The specialty outdoor retailers seeks to better support its stores and customers through faster product replenishment and delivery.

Operational changes keep coming at Walmart with another round of senior executive moves – and several retirements – announced late Friday that involve some familiar leaders in new roles focused on supercenters, small format and the rollout of grocery home shopping.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is shuffling a number of key executives and also tinkering with its organizational structure. Veteran Wal-Mart operator Mike Moore, who currently serves as executive VP of the 613-unit Neighborhood Market division, will transition to a new executive VP role with oversight of Wal-Mart’s much larger 3,421-unit supercenter operation in the U.S.

Assuming Moore’s previous position is Wal-Mart West executive VP Julie Murphy.

Specialty retailer Christopher & Banks has come up with an innovative celebration of women to drive traffic this Mother’s Day.

The retailer will solicit nominations for, and select, Amazing Women to be recognized for their selfless giving and positive impact on the lives of those around them. The first search this year will be launched in celebration of Mother's Day with nominations open through May 10.

San Francisco - Visa Inc. is expanding its technology research capabilities globally and appointing Min Wang to senior VP of Visa Research Labs. Wang joins Visa from Google Research, where she was a senior staff research scientist focused on data mining.

She also held senior staff research roles at HP Labs China and at the Unified Data Analytics Department at the IBM Watson Research Center.

The consumer electronics industry has reached a new milestone: It recycled 660 million pounds of used electronics products last year.

The number is the CE industry’s highest ever annual total, and the U.S. is now recycling CE products in record numbers, according to the Fourth Annual Report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, led by the Consumer Electronics Association.