Corporate Governance

Los Angeles — CBRE Group announced that it has acquired CBRE | Louisville, a commercial real estate services firm that has served as CBRE’s affiliate in metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana since 1996.

The firm has a staff of 34 and manages more than 10 million sq. ft. in the region.

Discount grocer Aldi, Costco and Walmart were recognized as the nation’s low price grocery leaders in a recent study conducted by Market Force Information.

It was the fourth consecutive year Aldi has received the low price distinction in the survey conducted by Market Force, a leading customer intelligence solutions firm. When asked to rank the top grocers offering low prices, the 6,200 consumers who participated in the study ranked Aldi first, Costco second and Walmart third. Aldi president Jason Hart was quick to take a victory lap.

Los Angeles — The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has inked an exclusive deal with developer L.A. Style to expand the coffee and tea retailer into Japan by the end of this year.

L.A. Style is a joint-venture partnership between fast-casual restaurateur Hotland Co. and Japan’s largest shopping mall developer Aeon Mall Co.
The deal ultimately calls for 200 stores across Japan.

Smith & Wesson has hired Andrew Coccari Jr. to fill the newly created position of SVP of sales and marketing, effective August 11. His appointment follows the announced retirement of Mario Pasantes, SVP of marketing and international sales, scheduled for 2015.

Atlanta - Global Payments Inc. has signed a referral agreement with BitPay, a provider of business solutions for the Bitcoin digital currency. This relationship allows Global Payments to incorporate the cryptocurrency into its product suite and to offer Bitcoin payment acceptance to its worldwide merchants.

The Timex brand is synonymous with watches so it’s no surprise that the company has entered the wearable teachnology space with a new smartwatch, called the Timex Ironman One GPS+, which offers consumers stand-alone wireless connectivity without a phone.

The brand is marketing the smartwatch as the ideal device to use in those instances when carrying a phone is not ideal. Some of the Timex Ironman One GPS+ smartwatch’s features include the following:

New York - Tiffany & Co. has set a goal to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15% from 2013 to 2020, according to its annual corporate responsibility report. The report details that the retailer had installed energy efficient LED lighting in retail displays at more than 39 U.S. retail locations by the end of 2013. An additional 16 North American locations are planned for 2014.

The report also includes progress in the following areas:

Atlanta - Another retailer is looking for a chief executive: Aaron’s Inc. announced that Ronald W. Allen, 72, will retire as CEO and as a member of the board of directors of Aaron’s, effective Aug. 31. Allen has served on the board since 1997 and as CEO since February 2012.

The board has retained Spencer Stuart, an executive recruiting firm, to assist in the process of identifying Allen's successor. The search process will include a full review of both internal and external candidates.