Corporate Governance

Boston — A joint committee of the Massachusetts state House of Representatives and Senate has filed a bill to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from its current hourly rate of $8 to $11. The increase would occur in stages until reaching $11 in 2017.

St. Louis — Panera Bread Company has secured a five-year $100 million term loan from Bank of America, Wells Fargo and TD Bank. Proceeds from the loan will be used for general corporate purposes, including a range of growth initiatives such as the rollout of the Panera 2.0 in-store technology initiative.

Norwalk, Conn. — The Priceline Group Inc. and online restaurant reservation service OpenTable Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement whereby The Priceline Group will acquire OpenTable for $103 per share in an all cash transaction valued at $2.6 billion. OpenTable will continue to be headquartered in San Francisco and will operate as an independent business led by its current management team within The Priceline Group.

Secaucus, N.J. — The Children’s Place Inc. has named Susan Sobbott to the board of directors as a Class II director to serve for a three-year term expiring in 2017. Sobbott currently holds the position of president of Global Corporate Payments, a global division of the American Express Company. From 2004 to early 2014, she was President and General Manager of American Express Open. The addition of Sobbott expands the company's board of directors to eight.

Queens, N.Y. — A new retail building is reportedly planned for the site of a former adult entertainment club in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens. According to the Queens Chronicle, a 20,000-sq.-ft. building will occupy the location once occupied by the Goldfingers nightclub, which has been shuttered since 1999.  

Dallas, Texas — Studio Movie Grill has acquired two leases for a 51,935-sq.-ft. building at the Town Center of Colleyville in Colleyville, Texas, according to Venture Commercial, the broker on the lease sale and assignment transaction.

Following extensive renovations to the former Colleyville Cinema, the new Studio Movie Grill plans to open in late May.

New York City — Forever 21 has taken space at the Mall at Bay Plaza, which is scheduled to open on August 14. The new store will span about 15,000 sq. ft.

A new 166,000-sq.-ft. Macy’s and an existing 150,000-sq.-ft. J.C. Penney will anchor the new mall. Forever 21 will join more than 100 retailers at Bay Plaza, including Kay Jewelers, Victoria Secret, H&M and Michael Kors.

Swedish clothing retailer H&M will be celebrating the July 17 opening of its museum-inspired Fifth Avenue flagship store with the help of artist Jeff Koons.

The partnership — H&M’s first artist collaboration — will take the form of a handbag that Koons designed in the shape of his famous stainless steel balloon dog sculpture. The handbag will be sold starting July 17 at H7M stores in New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Walgreens and Paula’s Choice online customers will be getting their orders faster now that they have eBay Enterprise and its regional fulfillment centers at their disposal.

ebay Enterprise said that Walgreens had renewed its agreement that will utilize the Reno, Nevada, fulfillment center to better reach its West Coast customers.

A new website from PayPal is looking to help businesses navigate global markets. PassPort, which is free and was launched earlier this week, provides insight into global markets by country, outlining gift-giving traditions and major holidays, as well as providing shipping tools for sellers.