Corporate Governance

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples is letting the public help determine the top three winners of its “Make Your Idea Happen” contest, which allowed entrepreneurs to share their ideas for a chance to receive all the products they need to bring their business to life. The retailer received more than 16,000 entries online and via Facebook.

The contest was announced in early January, and entrants were asked to submit a 100 word or less overview of their idea. Staples narrowed the submissions down to 10 finalists.

York, Pa. -- The Bon-Ton Stores plans to open a 27,000-sq.-ft. Herberger’s Clearance Center in Maplewood, Minn. The store is scheduled to open May 2014.

“We are pleased to announce the opening of our fourth free-standing clearance center,” said Brendan Hoffman, president and CEO.

Bon-Ton Stores operates 270 department stores in 25 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates.

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods will open a store in midtown Manhattan, near Madison Square Garden, on April 4.

The store is the retailer’s 156th location.

San Jose, Calif. -- VeriFone Systems announced today that five devices in its PAYware Mobile line of EMV- enabled mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) devices have been approved by the Visa Ready Program. The program is designed to ensure that devices, software and solutions used to initiate or accept Visa payments are compatible with Visa’s requirements.
 
By adopting PAYware Mobile devices that are Visa Ready approved, merchants enjoy the benefits of secure electronic payment acceptance from virtually any location.
 

Armonk, N.Y. -- Kids 21, a children’s upscale apparel retailer operated by luxury fashion group Club21, will use IBM’s cloud, e-commerce and analytics software to deliver personalized experience while expanding its online presence across Asia-Pacific. When it launches in the third quarter, the new online site will increase Kids 21’s reach from four to more than 15 countries in the region.

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Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot has appointed Troy Rice as executive VP of retail, effective April 14. Rice, who replaces Juan Guerrero, will also serve as a member of Office Depot’s leadership team and report directly to chairman and CEO Roland Smith.
 

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens had March 2014 sales of $6.43 billion, an increase of 4.5% from $6.16 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Same-store sales increased by 3.5% in March. Calendar day shifts positively impacted total same-store sales by 0.6%.

 

Camp Hill, Pa. -- For the four weeks ended March 29, 2014, same-store sales at Rite Aid increased 0.7% from the prior-year period. March front-end same-store sales decreased 5%, with 4.1% of the decrease attributable to a shift in the timing of Easter, which falls on April 20 in 2014 compared to March 31 in the prior year.

Total drugstore sales for the four-week period increased 0.4% to $1.95 billion, compared to $1.94 billion for the same period last year.

 

Washington, D.C. -- Despite a slight decrease in corporate payments fraud and a heightened interest in security risks, 2013 saw an increase in fraud specific to credit and debit cards as criminals and their schemes became more sophisticated, according to the 2014 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey released by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP).