Corporate Governance

Von Maur plans to open its 29th store at Riverchase Galleria Mall in Hoover, Ala., on Nov. 2. Located just outside of Birmingham, Ala., the three-level, 185,000-sq.-ft. store will be the company's first location in Alabama as well as one of the retailer’s largest stores in the country.

Sherwin-Williams is releasing ColorSnap Glass, a new consumer app for Google Glass. Developed for Sherwin-Williams by digital marketing agency Resource, ColorSnapp Glass provides a digital layer of color samples customers can view using the Google Glass device.

Lands' End has named Michele Donnan-Martin as the company’s EVP and chief merchandising design officer. Donnan-Martin will report directly to CEO and president Edgar Huber.

She will be charged with leading all aspects of merchandising and design to ensure alignment of product development, price point strategies and design aesthetic to embrace and further build upon the Lands' End's brand. 

OfficeMax EVP and chief digital officer Jim Barr has been elected to Shop.org’s board of directors for a two-year term.

Shop.org, the digital arm of the National Retail Federation, is the world's leading community for digital retail, offering thought leadership through original research and gold standard events. The community's exclusive networking groups and committees lead the global conversation surrounding innovative e-commerce trends and digital retail.

The Walmart Foundation has appointed Kathleen McLaughlin as its president, effective Oct. 15. In addition to leading corporate giving, she will have responsibility for the company's global sustainability, women's economic empowerment initiatives and healthier food initiatives. 

McLaughlin, previously a senior partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, is a dual American-Canadian citizen and was based in Toronto.

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is forecasting a 3.4% sales increase for the traditional November-December holiday period from last year — which spells good news for retailers. 

ICSC also anticipates that the other two measures of U.S. industry holiday sales — shopping-center inclined sales +3.4%, and chain-store sales +2.0 — will both increase over last year.

Ending years of speculation, the Container Store late Monday filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public stock offering.

The operator of 62 stores in 22 states with annual sales of $702 million contends the U.S. can support as many as 300 locations with international growth also a possibility. The company expects to open six stores during the current fiscal year and seven stores next year. The company’s stores average around 19,000-sq.-ft. and carry approximately 10,500 items grouped in 16 departments.

Boulder, Colo. — Transwetern’s Denver office has announced the completion of two leases at Hilltop Plaza, a four-story retail/office building in Boulder, Colo., in the University Hill shopping district just one block from the University of Colorado.

BoCo Café has taken a 1,742-sq.-ft. space in the food court. Spark Boulder, a provider of student and entrepreneurial co-working facilities, has leased 5,482 sq. ft. and plans to opening in November.

Brentwood, Tenn. — Tractor Supply Company has announced the opening of its first store in Nevada — in Carson City. The move is part of the company’s expansion strategy into the western region of the country. Tractor supply plans to open 100 to 105 stores in 2013.

The company currently operates more than 1,223 stores in 47 states and plans to grow to 2,100 stores.

Columbus, Ohio — DSW Inc., Designer Show Warehouse has announced two new store openings, one in Baltimore, and another in Lafayette, La.

DSW operates 385 stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.