Corporate Governance

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Jeff Balagna will join the company as executive VP and CIO. In his new role, Balagna who most recently served as CIO at Eli Lilly, will be responsible for all technology and infrastructure initiatives for the company in its support centers and in-store.
   

New York -- Officials in Baton Rouge have approved more than $7 million in incentives to bring a Costco store to the Louisiana city, the Associated Press reported.  
   
Costco is expected to open a 150,000-sq-ft. store by next April at the site of a former Coca-Cola bottling facility, the report said.

Philadelphia -- Wet Seal Inc. agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a federal racial discrimination lawsuit that accused retailer of firing black employees because they didn’t fit the retailer’s “brand image.”
   
The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund represented the plaintiffs in the class-action effort. The lawsuit alleged that former top Wet Seal executives denied equal pay and promotion opportunities to black store managers or removed them outright, replacing them with white employees.

New York -- TJX Cos. has joined the growing ranks of retailers who no longer report monthly same-store sales. On Thursday, the retailer announced that it will report results on a quarterly basis going forward. Also, as previously announced, Ross Stores will no longer be reporting same-store sales after the April results.

That will leave 11 U.S. retail chains reporting monthly sales, down from a peak of 68 in 2006, according to Reuters.

Toronto -- Canadian Tire Corp. plans to spin off most of its real estate assets into a C$3.5 billion (approximately U.S. $3.49 billion) real estate investment trust, with an initial public offering expected later this year. The proposed new REIT would acquire a majority of the company's owned real estate, including approximately 250 properties comprised largely of Canadian Tire Retail stores, Canadian Tire anchored retail developments and one distribution center.  

New York -- Britain’s Marks & Spencer (M&S) has completed the roll out of contactless payment to 644 of its United Kingdom stores, including its railway and airport franchise locations. The roll-out, which followed a successful trial in 25 London stores last summer, cements M&S’ position as the U.K.’s leading contactless retailer, processing over 230,000 contactless transactions every week.

Los Angeles -- Bebe Stores, Inc. is naming Keith Keegan as senior VP of marketing, effective May 13. Keegan will be in charge of all aspects of marketing and branding across all Bebe brands and report to CEO Steve Birkhold.

Previously, Keegan has worked for Abercrombie and Fitch, Limited, and Express and most recently served as VP of marketing and creative director for American Eagle and the Aerie brand.

Minneapolis – Robert S. Pick, senior VP of corporate development of Comcast Corporation, has been appointed to the board of directors of ValueVision Media Inc., a multichannel retailer operating as ShopNBC. Pick joined Comcast in 1989 and since that time has worked on ventures including the NBC Universal joint venture with GE Corporation, the acquisition of AT&T Broadband, and many other strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

New York -- TJX Cos., The Buckle and Zumiez all reported better-than-expected same-store sales for April, even as concerns about the job market bit into other retailers’ results.
   
TJX Cos. said that same-store sales in April were up 8% on strong customer traffic, better than 6.8% increase that analysts had expected. For the four weeks ended May 4, total revenue rose 9% to $2 billion.
   

LOS ANGELES — Bebe has appointed former Limited executive Keith Keegan as SVP of marketing. In his new role, Keegan will lead all aspects of marketing and branding across all channels of the business. He will report to CEO Steve Birkhold.