Corporate Governance

Burlington, N.J. -- Burlington Stores announced that Thomas A. Kingsbury, the company’s CEO and president, has been unanimously elected as chairman of the board.

“We are excited to elect Tom to chair the board of directors of Burlington Stores,” the board said in a statement. “He has done an outstanding job as CEO since he joined the company in 2008. The growth of the business has been impressive under Tom’s leadership and we look forward to this continuing under Tom’s expanded role as chairman and CEO.”

New York -- 99 Cents Only Stores named Christopher Laurence as the company's interim CFO, treasurer and secretary. Laurence replaces Frank Schools, who resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Laurence most recently was CEO of ThreeSixty Group, a product development and sourcing company for consumer product brands and retailers.

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. exceeded Wall Street estimates with both its net income and net sales performance during the first quarter of fiscal 2014. In addition, the retailer said it plans to open 17-20 new stores while closing 10 existing stores during the full fiscal year.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. has opened its 12th distribution center in Bethel, Pennsylvania. Dollar General announced plans to build the 930,000-sq.-ft. facility in 2012 and broke ground on the facility in fall 2012 with Kinsley Construction.

New York – A group director for two Tiffany & Co. stores in Houston has filed a lawsuit alleging the retailer discriminates against African-Americans in hiring and promotions for management and executive-level jobs. A complaint filed by Michael McClure in federal court in New York on May 29 says that McClure is the only African-American holding one of 200 U.S. management-level positions at Tiffany, and that there are no African-American executives in the company.

New York – Edward H. Finkelstein, former chairman and CEO of the company now known as Macy’s Inc., died of natural causes at his home in Thousand Oaks, California, on May 31. He was 89.

Finkelstein led Macy’s in the 1970s and 1980s and launched concepts including the Aeropostale apparel chain, which was later sold off, as well as several private brands. Finkelstein left the company in 1992 after 44 years, following a bankruptcy filing.

New York - The vast majority (80%) of consumers aged 20-40 in the U.S. and U.K. believe total privacy in the digital world is a thing of the past, but nearly half (49%) said they would not object to having their buying behavior tracked if it would result in relevant offers from brands and suppliers. A new study of 2,012 consumers by Accenture also shows.64% of respondents said that when they are physically in a store, they would welcome text messages from that retailer alerting them to offers matching their buying preferences.

San Diego - Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC) has entered into a binding contract to acquire Fallbrook Shopping Center for $210 million in cash. The property is located in West Hills, California, and has approximately 1.12 million sq. ft. of gross leaseable area, of which 98% is currently leased.

ROIC expects to close the transaction during the second quarter of 2014.

Gordmans Stores is looking for a new head merchant — in addition to a permanent CEO - following the resignation of Michael Morand as EVP and chief merchandising officer.

Burlington Stores president and CEO Thomas A. Kingsbury has been elected as chairman of the board of directors.