Corporate Governance

Pleasant Ridge, Mich. - Digital engagement firm ePrize today announced a new name, “HelloWorld.” HelloWorld is also releasing a SaaS-based rich engagement platform including the following solutions that can be deployed across microsites, SMS, social, mobile sites, apps and in-store.

● Mobile marketing: SMS, in-app push notifications, custom mobile app experiences, mobile clubs, alerts, mobile coupons and location-based services.

Woonsocket, R.I. – CVS Caremark has completed the acquisition of Coram LLC, the specialty infusion services and enteral nutrition business unit of Apria Healthcare Group Inc. Coram cares for approximately 165,000 patients annually and has 4,600 employees, including 600 nurses, 350 pharmacists and 250 dietitians, operating primarily through 85 branch locations and six centers of excellence for patient intake.

New York -- Target Corp. has signed a lease to open a 20,000-sq.-ft. location in Minneapolis that will serve as a test of a new format called TargetExpress, the New York Times reported. The new unit, considerably smaller than CityTarget’s 80,000- to 125,000-sq.-ft. footprint, would be the chain’s smallest store to date.

New York -- Neiman Marcus Group on Thursday posted a statement on its website in which it said that, to its knowledge, customers' Social Security numbers and birthdates were not stolen during its holiday security breach. Last week, the retailer revealed that some of customers' payment information had been stolen and that the thieves had made unauthorized charges.

A 20,000-sq.-ft. store called TargetExpress is set to become the newest addition to the retailer’s portfolio of formats when it opens this July in downtown Minneapolis.

In an interview with The New York Times, Target EVP for property development John Griffith said Target signed a lease last week for a space on the ground floor of an apartment building called the Marshall which is under construction near the University of Minnesota campus. The store is scheduled to open July 27.

Leading beauty products manufacturer Elizabeth Arden is the latest company to cite an intensely promotional marketplace as the reason for worse-than-expected holiday season sales and profits.

The company said sales for its second quarter ended Dec. 31, would be in the range of $414 to $418 million and earnings per share would be between $1.13 and $1.16, substantially below sales of $468 million and earnings of $1.47 during the same period the prior year.

Leading beauty products manufacturer Elizabeth Arden is the latest company to cite an intensely promotional marketplace as the reason for worse-than-expected holiday season sales and profits.

The company said sales for its second quarter ended Dec. 31, would be in the range of $414 to $418 million and earnings per share would be between $1.13 and $1.16, substantially below sales of $468 million and earnings of $1.47 during the same period the prior year.

Albertsons has confirmed that it plans to close 26 locations.

“This is part of our typical review cycle, and after reviewing store performance, we determined that these stores could not be positioned for future profitability, with the exception of the two stores in Acme that were closed for underperformance. The two Acme stores were closed because the leases are expiring,” the company said in a statement sent to sister publication Drug Store News.

Estée Lauder has named Jane Lauder as global brand president of Clinique. Succeeding Lauder will be Stephane de la Faverie, who has been named SVP/global general manager, Origins, Ojon and Darphin. Their new roles will become effective April 1.

Both Lauder and de la Faverie will report to Lynne Greene, group president of Clinique, Origins, Ojon, Aveda and Darphin. As announced in 2012, Greene was promoted to group president as part of an organizational redesign.

The malicious attack on Target which resulted in a massive data breach has spawned a “we’re all in this together” attitude among the nation’s retailers with the National Retail Federation spearheading the charge for common sense consumer protection measures.

Foremost among them is usage of the more secure Chip and PIN technology in credit and debit cards that offers better encryption of data than the magnetic stripe cards that are prevalent in the U.S.