Corporate Governance

Effective May 5, Bob DeRodes will lead Target’s information technology transformation as EVP and chief information officer, as the retailer continues to recover from the data breach late last year.

Target also provided details on additional security enhancements it has made following that breach — which reportedly resulted in the theft of 40 million credit and debit card records and 70 million other records of customer details — and shared plans to incorporate MasterCard chip-and-PIN technology across its REDcard portfolio.

Waban, Mass. – Grocery chain H.E.B. tied with the banking business of financial services provider USAA for the top spot in consumer forgiveness. Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, the two companies both came in first in the 2014 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, which rates 268 companies across 19 industries.

Irving, Texas – Net income at Michael’s Stores Inc. soared 36% to $143 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 from $105 million in the same quarter the previous year. Net sales grew 2% to $1.55 billion from $1.52 billion and same-store sales rose 4.2%.

Michael’s credited a 53rd week in fiscal 2013, as well as increases in average ticket size and transactions, as driving its fourth quarter performance.

Omaha, Neb. — A private California buyer has purchased a 20,134-sq.-ft. Natural Grocers in Omaha, Nebraska. Mid-America Real Estate Corp. represented the seller, a private developer, in the transaction.

Mid-America Real Estate Corporation is a member of Mid-America Real Estate Group, a ChainLinks affiliate headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. The company is the Midwest’s leading full-service retail real estate organization with offices in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Detroit.

The Container Store’s net income soared by about 800% year-over-year during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, to $18.34 million from $2.09 million. A substantial drop in effective tax rate, as well as lower net interest expense, helped drive the impressive growth in net income.

Net sales slipped from $217.02 million to $216.82 million, while same-store sales climbed 1.4%. The company cited severe weather as reducing sales.

Seattle -- REI's members recently elected two new directors to represent their interests on the co-op's board of directors.

Karen E. (Kari) Glover and Sharon Philpott were elected to three-year terms and Cheryl Scott was re-elected to a three-year term. Earlier in the year, the REI board re-appointed Chloe Harford and Matt Compton to one-year terms.

Foot Locker Foundation, the charitable arm of Foot Locker, announced the 20 recipients of the Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program. Each student will receive $20,000 in college scholarships, totaling $400,000.

The scholarship program, funded by the Foot Locker Foundation and administered by DoSomething.org, honors students who demonstrate academic excellence and exemplify strong leadership skills in sports and within their communities. To date, the program has awarded $1.2 million to help deserving high school student athletes pay for school.

New York -- Uniqlo debuted a new flagship with the opening of its fifth location in Paris, in the city’s Marais area.

Located in a 19th century building that once housed a foundry, the three-level, 8,800-sq.-ft. store combines such historic details as a 115-ft- red-brick chimney with a modern layout and high-tech accents, including video screens and LED displays.

It was designed by Tokyo architects Wonderwall, a longtime collaborator with Uniqlo.