Corporate Governance

New York -- Specialty retailer L Brands continued its winning ways in March, reporting a 9% increase in same-store sales, higher than expectations. Total sales increased 10% to $981.2 million, from $923.7 million in the year ago period.

The Cato Corp. also turned in a winning performance, with a 12% surge in March same-store sales. For the nine weeks ended April 4, sales totaled $197.5 million, up 5% from $188.98 million a year earlier.

Retailers and consumer goods companies already know that California leads the nation when it comes to burdensome regulatory requirements. Now, the situation could go from bad to worse with enforcement looming of a complex law known as the Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

After reporting standout results for the holiday quarter, Costco had a drop in same store sales in March that the retailer blamed on the earlier-than-normal Easter holiday.

Deerfield, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported quarterly earnings for the first time since the December 2014 merger of Walgreen Co. and Alliance Boots GmbH. The announcement included the news that the drug store retailer will close about 200 U.S. stores as part of its previously announced three-year, $1 billion cost-reduction plan.

In announcing its Costco-like membership model, Jet.com (yet to launch as of this writing) has positioned itself as the latest type of online retail marketplace. Considering that online marketplaces really go back to the days of CompuServe, Prodigy and Earthlink (extra points if you know what “dial up” means), I’ve been struck by how much marketplaces have been in the news lately. Think about Alibaba’s jaw-dropping $9.3 billion sales on Singles Day (Nov.

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens Boots Alliance has named U.S. Foods president and CEO John Lederer to the board of directors. Lederer was appointed president and CEO of US Foods in September 2010, and previously was chairman and CEO of Duane Reade.

Lederer also held a variety of senior leadership positions during a 30-year career at Loblaw Companies Ltd.

Weis Markets Inc. is losing one of its longest serving executives after the company announced that the chairman of the board is stepping down.

Robert F. Weis will not stand for re-election to its board of directors at the company's annual meeting of shareholders on April 23, the company said.

"We are deeply indebted to Robert for his 69 years of leadership and tireless dedication to our company," said Harold G. Graber, Jr., a director and secretary of the company.