Corporate Governance

Seattle -- REI will set up shop in two new locations next spring. The national outdoor retailer will open in Princeton, New Jersey. REI is also extending its presence in the Atlanta area, with a 24,000-sq.-ft. store in Alpharetta, Georgia.

REI’s 23,000-sq.-ft. store in Princeton will be located at Mercer Mall.

Omnichannel beauty brand Julep has tapped former Blue Nile executive Dwight Gaston as chief delivery officer. In his new role, Gaston will oversee Julep's operations, customer service, fulfillment and product development teams to ensure efficient delivery of products to its customers.

The company develops more than 300 new products each year for its Maven subscribers and e-commerce customers, and shipments are growing exponentially, it said.

Nearly one year ago, as lawyers faced off in the first battle over Detroit’s bankruptcy bid, Meijer opened its first store at the Gateway Marketplace shopping center on 8 Mile Road and Woodward Ave. The retailer is not giving up on the economically depressed city, either, as it prepares to open a second location.

New York -- Richard Sharp, the former CEO of Circuit City and driving force behind CarMax, has died due to complications from a rare type of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 67.

TreeHouse Foods plans to acquire Flagstone Foods, a leading provider of private-label healthy snacks, one of the fastest growing on-trend categories in the food industry.

TreeHouse has agreed to pay Gryphon Investors and other shareholders $860 million in cash for the business, subject to an adjustment for working capital.

Morrisville, N.C. - Charles & Colvard Ltd. has closed a new three-year $10 million asset-backed credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank. The company’s previous credit facility with PNC Bank was terminated.

The new credit facility provides Charles & Colvard working capital for general corporate purposes and to pursue continued growth opportunities and is secured by Charles & Colvard assets. The company currently does not have any other long-term debt and the new credit facility is undrawn.

Pittsburgh - American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is entering the U.K. with the opening of three new company-owned stores. The stores will be located in the Bluewater mall in Kent, England, as well as the Westfield Group’s London and Stratford City shopping centers in London, England.

The stores opening in the Westfield centers will include an aerie presence in shop-in-shop form. All of the stores are expected to open during fall 2014.

New York -- Retail chain Hobby Lobby was triumphant In a 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court on Monday in which the court ruled that the federal government cannot force privately held corporations to provide forms of contraceptive coverage that violate the religious beliefs of their owners. The ruling means that private companies can opt out of the Affordable Health Care Act’s contraception mandate.