Corporate Governance

Kmart and Best Buy are among the retailers that helped St. Jude’s Hospital raise more than $100 million for the second year in a row.

Kmart led all fundraising for St. Jude’s once again at $17.5 million, bringing its grand total to date to $76 million. Best Buy saw its campaign increase from nearly $1 million in 2013 to $9.7 million.

Matthews, N.C. – Howard Levine, CEO of Family Dollar Stores Inc., intends to reduce his holdings of company stock for the second time in a month. In an SEC filing, Levine said he will sell up to two million shares of Family Dollar stock in an effort to diversify his portfolio.

In February 2015, Levine sold about 1.77 million shares of Family Dollar stock for $134.5 million. Family Dollar is in the process of being acquired by Dollar Tree Inc.

When Lumber Liquidators executives talked about earnings in a conference call last week, they alluded to an upcoming "60 Minutes" investigation of the company's business practices. Turns out, the CBS report was a lot more damning than some analysts expected.

The company's shares tumbled drastically on Monday, with the stock price falling more than 24%.

New York -- It takes a scorecard these days to keep up with the fast-moving mobile payments industry. On the heels of Samsung’s announcement that it would roll out Samsung Pay in the United States this summer, PayPal announced it is buying mobile wallet technology start-up Paydiant.

Publix continues to be a blockbuster in its industry, as the grocery chain posted a 7.4% increase in profits in the fourth quarter.

The Florida-based retailer reported a profit of $453.3 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $422 million in 2013. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased to $0.58 for 2014, up from $0.54 per share in 2013. Publix reported net sales of $7.9 billion; same store sales increased 6.4%.

New York -- Nike will open its first clearance store location in New York City at The Shops at Sky View Center in Flushing, New York.

The 15,000-sq.-ft. Nike Factory Store is slated to open April 2 on Level B of the 700,000-sq.-ft. shopping destination.

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko on Monday announced plans to open 20 new Shopko Hometown stores in late March. The company recently acquired the rights to occupy the 20 stores, with locations primarily in Texas, North Dakota, Kansas and Minnesota, which were previously operated by Alco Stores.

The conversion to the Hometown banner will include a mix of new interior and exterior signage, carpet, paint, updated and supplement fixtures and lighting, improved store design and layout, as well as an expanded merchandise mix.

Regional discount retailer Shopko will experience its most dramatic growth in many years later this month when its Hometown stores division takes over locations from the now defunct Alco Stores chain.