Corporate Governance

As news surfaced about Netflix increasing its prices to new members (and to existing members in a year or two), Amazon was signing a content licensing agreement with HBO, making Prime Instant Video the exclusive online-only subscription home for select HBO programming.

Minneapolis – SuperValu Inc. swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 from a net loss in the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year. Net earnings were a better-than-expected $26 million, compared to a net loss of $1.41 billion a year earlier.

In addition, net sales rose 1.4% to $3.95 billion from $3.9 billion and same-store sales increased 3.5%. The substantial improvement in profits partially resulted from a significant decrease in charges and costs.

Long Island City, N.Y. – Calypso St. Barth Inc. has obtained a $17.5 million senior-secured credit facility from Salus Capital Partners LLC. The financing will be used to refinance its current lender, general corporate purposes and continued store growth.

“The Salus team has demonstrated a deep understanding of our business,” remarked David Stiffman, president and CFO of Calypso St. Barth. “The new facility with Salus provides us the ability to capitalize on our business momentum and execute our growth strategies.”

New York —River Bay Plaza in Riverview, Fla., has sold for $5.8 million. Cohen Real Estate represented the buyer and seller, both private investment firms.

Located in Hillsborough County, the 79,288-sq.-ft. neighborhood shopping center is anchored by Winn Dixie, which recently exercised a lease option. Other recent developments include a new 10-year lease for Aaron’s and an option exercised by Dollar Tree.

About 163,000 people live within a five-mile radius of the center. Average annual household income is $70,000.

As retail executives, our people come first: finding, training, mentoring, helping them grow to get to the next level and realize a fulfilling career in an industry we love. Our people are absolutely crucial to delivering on customer expectations. And, as we all know, those expectations only continue to rise.

Lost Angeles — CBRE Group has announced that John Ferguson has been promoted to president, southeast region.

Ferguson has led CBRE’s southeast region since January 2011. His elevation to the title of president reflects outstanding performance across a broad range of leadership activities including new business development, business and sales management, market and industry leadership, client relationships and people management, said CBRE in a statement.

Canadian Tire plans to manufacture digital innovation at a new “App Factory,” that is part of the retailer’s recently open Cloud Nine Digital Innovation Centre.

Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the 28,000-sq.-ft.- facility serves as the core digital hub for the Canadian Tire family of companies and a store network of roughly 1,700 locations. The center will possess 20 times more computing power and 10 times more network bandwidth than the company’s existing technology infrastructure.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. said that its Fry's Marketplace store in Phoenix marks the 500th Kroger location to earn the Energy Star designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy.