Corporate Governance

A recovering housing market spells good news for the home and housewares, as seen in Bed Bath & Beyond’s second quarter results for the period ended Aug. 31.

The company reported net earnings of $1.16 per diluted share, or $249.3 million, for the quarter, an increase of 18.4% versus net earnings of $0.98 per diluted share, or $224.3 million, in the same quarter a year ago.  

New York -- As more dollars are spent online and consumers become savvier in product knowledge and comparison shopping, retailers must rethink their customer experience strategies.

Chain Store Age’s Webinar, “Creating the Ultimate Experience: Research Shows How to Increase Customer Loyalty,” will provide insight into how retailers can capture more revenue through a consistent and well-executed customer experience. Webinar attendees will receive a complimentary research report detailing the full research findings.

Boston — Marketing analytics firm Dunnhumby Tuesday announced it has launched Dunnhumby Ventures, an investment firm that will focus on financing retail technology start-ups.  

The company said the new venture will fund startup businesses that are embracing data for innovations along the consumer’s path to purchase. Average initial investments will be $100,000 to $500,000.

Katy, Texas -- Academy Sports + Outdoors will open its first Memphis-area store on Sept. 27, in Collierville, Tenn. In conjunction with the opening, Academy has signed a multi-year partnership with The University of Memphis and its athletics multimedia rights holder, Tiger Sports Properties.

The new 73,000-sq.-ft. Collierville store will be Academy's eighth store in Tennessee.

Rockville, Md. -- Mom’s Organic Market is opening its first Pennsylvania store, in Rosemont Square, Bryn Mawr, which is located outside of Philadelphia.

New York -- VeriFone Systems, a leading global secure electronic payments provider, named Paul Galant as CEO and elected him to its board of directors, effective Oct. 1.

Prior to joining VeriFone, Galant served as the CEO of Citigroup Inc.’s Enterprise Payments business. Before that, from 2009, Galant served as CEO of Citi Cards, heading Citigroup’s North American and International Consumer Credit Cards business.

Evansville, Ind. — Schnuck Markets plans to open two stores and remodel three locations in southwest Indiana, the supermarket chain said Tuesday.

Schnucks said it planned to invest more than $11 million in Evansville, Ind., which is the largest city in southwest Indiana. Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck announced the plans at the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and dinner.

New York -- Consumer Confidence decreased in September amid resurfacing concerns about the short-term outlook for both jobs and earnings, according to The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. The index, which had increased slightly in August, now stands at 79.7, down from 81.8 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 79.9 this month.

The Present Situation Index grew to 73.2 from 70.9. The Expectations Index fell to 84.1 from 89.0 last month.

Bentonville, Ark. – A regional class-action gender bias suit filed against Wal-Mart Stores in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has reportedly been dismissed. According to Bloomberg, U.S, District Court Judge Robert N. Scola ruled that plaintiffs in the case had missed time limitations to file claims and that their claims were previously rejected in another gender bias case.

If it feels like summer just ended, that’s because it did: the first day of fall was Sept. 22. But you can bet your bottom dollar that retailers aren’t going to let a little thing like the calendar get in the way of moving forward with their holiday plans. In fact, if the recent spate of depressing economic news is any indicator, this year some brands might literally be betting their bottom dollar on the anticipated holiday sales boost.