Corporate Governance

Pittsburgh - For the first time ever, the majority of consumers are visiting retail websites on smartphones and tablets rather than on traditional desktop and laptop computers. According to Branding Brand's Mobile Commerce Index report, in August 2014, mobile devices generated 51% of all online retail visits, the majority of which occurred on Apple devices.

Electrolux has entered into an agreement to acquire the appliances business of General Electric, one of the leading manufacturers of kitchen and laundry products in the United States, for a cash consideration of $3.3 billion.

CVS Health has completed the purchase of Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy.

The acquisition includes Navarro's 33 retail locations and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases. The retail pharmacies will retain the Navarro Discount Pharmacy name.

Lakewood, Colo. -- Einstein Noah Restaurant Group announced the appointment of Frank G. Paci as president and CEO, effective Sept. 15. Paci succeeds Michael Arthur who has filled the position on an interim basis since February 2014. Arthur will continue to serve as a board director.

Walgreens has appointed Barry Rosenstein, managing partner JANA Partners, and a second new director to be named to its board of directors as the company continues moving forward to complete its merger with Alliance Boots.
 

New York -- Panera Bread would like its customers to leave their guns at home. The bakery-cafe chain joined a handful of other high-profile retailers, including Starbucks, Chipotle, and Target, to make the request.  

New York – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that media reports indicate could be worth as much as $24.3 billion, making it the biggest U.S. initial public offering ever.

According to Bloomberg, Alibaba is seeking a valuation as high as $162.7 million, in the upper end of the proposed price range and higher than that of any other public Internet company in the U.S. except Google and Facebook.

In a few weeks, retailers across the country will set out to begin to interview, hire and train workers for very busy holiday season. There is nothing new about these hiring trends. What is new is that we can translate and apply military methods to train, integrate and improve workers effectiveness for a more successful retail season.