Corporate Governance

Increased sales at Famous Footwear and the divestiture of its Shoes.com website helped Brown Shoe increase profits in the fourth quarter.

Brown Shoe Company reported that same store sales increased 4%, while profit was $16.2 million, or 37 cents a share, for the fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31, up from $6.2 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings totaled $9 million in the quarter, or 20 cents a share, up from $6.2 million a share, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 2.6 percent in the quarter to $615.4 million.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Health is making a series of organizational changes to further drive enterprise alignment and fuel its growth strategy.

The changes include:

•The promotion of Josh Flum to executive VP, pharmacy services. In addition to overseeing retail pharmacy operations, pharmacy professional services, and payer relations, Flum will also have oversight of a new Enterprise Product Innovation and Development team, and a new Enterprise Pharmacy Growth team.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. laid off 1,700 mostly headquarters employees on Tuesday and is eliminating 1,400 open positions. According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Target notified employees of the workforce reduction in an email.

The cuts are part of a two-year, $2 billion corporate restructuring. Roughly 13% of the jobs in Target’s Minneapolis workforce will be eliminated, the report noted.

Shoppers interested in purchasing products from women-owned companies will find it easier to do so at Walmart with the introduction of a new logo and related promotional effort.

Houston -- Baker Katz, an X Team International partner and full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm, announced the acquisition of the former Baytown Seafood establishment situated on 30,000 sq. ft. of land in Houston.

The property is located at the cross streets of I-10 East and Haden Road. Baker Katz plans to demolish the current building to construct an 8,000-sq.-ft. building occupied by a combination of restaurant and retail tenants.

Arlington, Va. -- Data-driven energy management systems provider GridPoint announced that Boddie-Noell Enterprises, the largest Hardee’s franchise operator in the United States, has deployed GridPoint’s state-of-the-art solution at a majority of its 334 restaurants, with plans to deploy to the remaining sites in 2015 and beyond.

Walter J. Salmon, the distinguished Harvard Business School professor who influenced generations of retailers, has died at the age of 84.

Salmon, long one of the world’s leading experts on retailing, retail distribution, and marketing, who for more than 40 years influenced thousands of students, executives and other academics, was the school’s Stanley Roth Sr. Professor of Retailing Emeritus.

New York -- Juicy Couture, which was acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2013, may no longer be a coveted brand in the United States, but it is still has great appeal in foreign markets. The company expects to open 133 stores (through its various licensing partners) during the next five years, according to Women's Wear Daily.

Juicy will open 31 international locations in eight countries this year, the report said. Three of the countries — India, South Africa and Azerbaijan — will be new market entries for the brand.