Corporate Governance

Speed Commerce, a leading provider of omnichannel e-commerce services, has appointed former Oracle executive Mark Steele as the company's VP of global sales and marketing.

Steele boasts more than two decades of sales experience with a proven track record of success in firms ranging from Global Fortune 100 to early and mid-stage venture backed startups.

Houston -- In a deal that will create a national specialty bedding retail powerhouse, Mattress Firm Holding Corp. has agreed to acquire rival The Sleep Train Inc. for about  $425 million. As part of the deal, Mattress Firm said that it will also assume certain additional liabilities totaling about $15 million.

Sleep Train operates approximately 310 specialty mattress stores, primarily in California, Oregon, and other Western states. It reported net sales of $471 million for the 2013 fiscal year.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire the business assets of Davis Beverage Group and Davis Bottling Co.

If completed, the acquisition would include most of Davis’ direct store delivery territory in Pennsylvania and a portion of its New Jersey territory, as well as its production and distribution facilities, delivery vehicles, vending equipment and other assets.

Chain Store Age makes no secret of the fact that we are a retail publication – and have been since 1925. Our readership is retail headquarters executives and our content is directed toward, and influenced by, that very group.

In the September 2014 issue, however, we looked at another group – one that is integrally involved with retailers and often determines the success of a single store or an entire market:  retail brokers.

Walmart has reportedly issued a new dress code and staff members are not happy, according to Gawker.

Complex magazine reported that the new dress code “requires certain employees to wear white or navy blue collared shirts with khaki or pants, capris, or skirts,” according to Walmart human resources executive Barbara Simone.

Beachwood, Ohio -- DDR Corp. announced the addition of Nordstrom Rack to The Shops at Midtown Miami, a 98% leased, 645,000-sq.-ft. urban, value-oriented power center in Miami.

DDR created space for Nordstrom Rack through its Project Accelerate initiative announced in May of 2014, whereby DDR is recapturing below-market leases from underperforming anchor tenants and backfilling these locations with best-in-class retailers.

Atlanta – The alleged security breach that recently hit The Home Depot Inc. may have compromised credit and debit card data at nearly all of the company’s stores. According to the security website Krebsonsecurity.com, the unique ZIP codes of a large batch of new cards listed for sale on underground hacker sites shows a more than 99% overlap with nearby Home Depot stores, suggesting a widespread breach.

Seattle – The board of directors of Nordstrom Inc. has authorized a repurchase program of up to $1 billion of the company’s outstanding common stock, through March 1, 2016. Nordstrom intends to fund the repurchase program from existing cash on hand.