Corporate Governance

Columbus, Ohio -- Ikea announced that it is submitting plans to the City of Columbus, Ohio, for a store that would increase the Swedish furniture retailer’s Ohio presence to two stores. The newest store, located in the Polaris Centers of Commerce development about 15 miles north of downtown Columbus, is slated to open summer 2017.

ShoeBuy, a global online retailer of shoes and clothing, is expanding into footwear manufacturing.

The company has acquired a minority stake in Boston Boot Company. Now, the complete Boston Boot Company product line will be available at ShoeBuy.com, bringing the brand to millions of shoppers. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Washington, D.C. -- Restaurants will remain the nation’s hottest hirer this year.  An annual report by the National Restaurant Association indicated that, as it has for the last 16 years, the restaurant industry employment will outpace employment growth in 2015.

Stockholm, Sweden – Stockholm, Sweden-based EPiServer and Nashua, New Hampshire-based Ektron have merged to create a new global digital experience provider of scale. The combined company is backed by technology-focused private equity investment firm Accel-KKR.

The combined company, which will operate under the EPiServer name and continue to use the Ektron and EPiServer brands, has more than 8,800 customers in 30 countries backed by a network of more than 880 partners.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) says retailers support a strong pre-emptive federal data breach law that allows for reasonable and clear notice triggered by potential customer harm.

In testimony this week before Congress, Brian Dodge, executive VP at RILA, will focus on retailers’ priority of supporting a strong preemptive federal data breach law that allows for reasonable and clear notice triggered by potential customer harm.

New York – Investment fund Trian Fund Management LP has reportedly reduced its stake in Family Dollar Stores Inc. from 7% to a little more than 2%. According to the Wall Street Journal, the fund, headed by activist investor Nelson Peltz, had publicly supported the Family Dollar-Dollar Tree merger.

Triad has an executive on the Family Dollar board. The SEC has confirmed Family Dollar shareholder approval of the Dollar Tree merger.
 

New York - With gas prices down 31% since June 2014 and oil prices tumbling to their lowest levels in several years, American consumer confidence has improved dramatically. According to the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Report, in fourth quarter 2014 U.S. consumer confidence went up 12 percentage points year-over-year.

Minneapolis -- Shorenstein Properties LLC and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th announced that Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th has signed a lease for 40,321 sq. ft. in the retail portion of Minneapolis City Center, continuing the fashion retailer’s 25-year presence in downtown Minneapolis. The new store is slated to open April 2016.

“This city has been a strong market for us, and Minneapolis City Center provides us with a vibrant location in which to serve our exceedingly loyal customers,” said Jonathan Greller, president of Outlets, HBC.