Corporate Governance

Los Angeles -- Ralphs Grocery Co. said it will hire to fill an estimated 1,200 permanent positions at its stores in Southern California. Ralphs currently employs more than 19,000 associates at its stores in the region.  

New York -- A petition to get Old Navy to stop charging more for women's plus-size jeans has gathered more than 36,000 signatures online, Bloomberg reports.  

Seattle -- Nordstrom has surpassed Wall Street estimates with an unexpected jump in profit and sales for the quarter ended Nov. 1.   The department store retailer reported a profit of $142 million for the third quarter, up from $137 million in the year-ago period.   Sales jumped 9% to $3.14 billion, beating the expected $3.11 billion in revenue. Same-store sales rose 3.9%.  

San Jose, Calif. -- West Coast sandwich operator Togo's Eateries, Inc. has named Jim Peros as its new COO, charged with overseeing all operations and the expansion of the brand's restaurants throughout the West.   

RadioShack continues to roll out its new “Fix It Here!” service as it looks to become more relevant with shoppers.

The company announced the new mobile device repair service is now available in at least 30 stores in the Houston area. The move is part of an ongoing national rollout expected to have the service in 750 locations by year end. The service is currently offered at 650 stores.

RadioShack is looking to increase sales during the crucial holiday shopping season, and the new service is seen as a way to generate store traffic and sales.

New York -- Entertainer Nick Jonas joined Lord & Taylor/Hudson’s Bay president Liz Rodbell for the unveiling of the department store’s annual holiday windows on NYC’s Fifth Avenue on Thursday, marking the 100th anniversary of the retailer’s holiday window program.  

There are more than 20,000 Starbucks around the globe, but only one of those stores—specifically the one in the artsy Fremont section of Seattle— has a five-foot tall neon letter “f” inside it.  Read more   

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. retail sales edged up in October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department, evidence that recent job gains and lower gas prices are lifting consumer spending as the holiday shopping season begins. Retail sales rose 0.3% last month after falling by the same amount in September. Excluding gas stations, where falling prices lowered spending, sales rose a solid 0.5%.