Corporate Governance

Progress Financial may not be directly affiliated with Walmart, but a Bloomberg story this week reveals the companies are connected in some interesting ways.

Peru tends to be a logical new market for many Chilean retailers and Walmart will be next, according to unconfirmed reports from a company executive who spoke to Reuters.

The news agency this week said Walmart, which is already one of the leading retailers in Chile, will begin work this year to open stores in Peru and plans to form a local management team. As expected, Walmart denied the report but did acknowledge it planned to run a quality assurance office in Peru for procuring products.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in June 2012 vs. June 2013 and noticed some common overall trends across top retail chains. Although Staples and Walmart each saw large year-over-year increases in circular page count, page count was fairly stable overall, with none of these key retailers seeing a decrease of more than 13%.

Neil Marshall, global director of quality and food safety with the Coca-Cola Company is the newest member of the Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

Marshall replaces fellow Coca-Cola colleague D.V. Darshane who recent took a new position with Coca-Cola in Europe.

The Von Maur department store chain was founded 140 years ago and less than a month from now the company will open its 27th store in Coralville, Iowa.
 
The 80,000-sq.-ft. freestanding store will be located at the Iowa River Landing retail development and feature the company’s signature exterior entrance and resident ambience.

New York -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Tiffany & Co. executive, charging her with stealing more than $1 million in jewelry and then reselling it for $1.3 million.

According to reports, Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun was arrested at her home in Darien, Conn. She was charged with wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property by the FBI, and could face up to 30 years in prison.

New York -- Urban Outfitters has signed a lease for 56,730 sq. ft. on three levels at W&H Properties’ 1333 Broadway site, where the retailer will create its innovative new “lifestyle center” concept with new features never before seen from the brand, according to Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, which supervises the W&H Properties portfolio.

The retailer will take occupancy in September.  

Fremont, Calif. -- Men’s Wearhouse has launched its sixth annual National Suit Drive, with a goal to collecting 150,000 gently used professional clothing items through July 31, to donate to unemployed men and women who are trying to re-enter the workforce.

In its first five years, the Men’s Wearhouse National Suit Drive collected more than half a million pieces of business attire, including 120,000 suits.

Williamsville, N.Y. -- Tops Friendly Markets has officially unveiled 12 former Grand Union stores in eastern and northern New York under the Tops banner at grand re-opening ceremonies.

The new Tops branded stores include stores in Saratoga, Warrensburg, Warren, Franklin, Essex, Clinton and Fulton counties.

Having past the calendar’s mid-point, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the most viewed stories of the year to date on ChainStoreAge.com. (Based on the results,  the ongoing saga of J.C. Penney remains the industry's biggest story.) Here are the Top 10 stories of the first six months: