Corporate Governance

San Jose, Calif. -- PayPal and Braintree have named named the $100,000 grand prize winner of the 2014 BattleHack Series. At the World Finals, competitors were tasked with building an application that incorporates PayPal, Braintree or Venmo APIs.    The grand prize was awarded to the team from Tel Aviv, with two hackers, Shai Mishali and Pavel Kaminsky.   

A Toys“R”Us executive will take over the top post at Brookstone, the product development company and specialty retailer that emerged from bankruptcy this year after being bought by a group of Chinese investors.

“We were impressed by Tom's success at rejuvenating businesses and by his broad and deep achievements as a senior executive in the retail industry,” Piau Phang Foo, chairman of the board of directors, said. “He has demonstrated success at driving innovation and growth globally."

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - All Dollar General stores now accept American Express cards as a form of payment. Dollar General operates more than 11,500 locations in 40 states.    “We strive to provide our customers with a simple and hassle-free shopping experience,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s COO.  

Altoona, Penn. -- C-store operator Sheetz cut the ceremonial red ribbon to officially open its new Burlington (North Carolina) Distribution Center.    The $33 million facility contains a Sheetz Bros kitchen, distribution and warehousing center for the Sheetz distribution fleet. There is also be space for various corporate support departments.    

HHgregg CEO Dennis May said the retailer is approaching Black Friday differently this year, including opening its stores earlier than Best Buy on Thanksgiving Day and offering 40% storewide discounts.

HHgregg will open its stores at 4 p.m. on the holiday, an hour earlier than Best Buy and two hours earlier than most other retailers who plan to open Thanksgiving Day. The retailer also said its Black Friday Now promotion will begin Nov. 20 and run through Nov. 29 and will offer up to 40% off all items in the store.

Las Vegas –- At the recent KronosWorks 2014 conference in Las Vegas, clients across a variety of industries spoke about how they use Kronos solutions to better perform a variety of human resources and workforce management tasks.  

New stores, 3.9% same store sales growth and increased loyalty propelled Nordstrom to record third quarter sales.

The company’s total sales increased 8.9% to $3 billion thanks to the addition of new stores and a 3.9% same store sales increase that was driven by online growth. Profits increased 3.6% to $142 million compared to $137 million while earnings per share increased 5.8% to 73 cents from 69 cents.

North Plainfield, Ill. -- With momentum picking up as the holiday shopping season approaches, retailers polled in Levin Management’s 2014 Pre-Holiday Retail Sentiment Survey are showing strong enthusiasm for seasonal sales potential. The findings also indicate expectations for strong pre-December shopping and plans for stepped-up temporary hiring with positions that may carry into the new year.