Corporate Governance

Columbus, Ohio -- In a move to establish a base in Canada, DSW Inc. has entered into an agreement to buy an approximate 44% stake in Canadian footwear retailer Town Shoes. The transaction, expected to close in May, is valued at approximately $62 million. Under the agreement, DSW will have the right to purchase the rest of Town Shoes after four years.

Jewel-Osco has named Scott Hays as VP operations for the Chicagoland grocery store.

Most recently a district manager with Albertsons LLC’s Southern division, Hays will lead the operations team to support Jewel-Osco’s marketing and merchandising initiatives, including the company’s upcoming remodels and opening their five newly acquired Dominick’s locations.

By Michael Lebowitz

99 Cents Only recently changed its fiscal year from the Saturday closest to the end of March, to the Friday closest to the end of January, to be in line with its retail industry peers. But during the shortened fiscal year consisting of 44 weeks, from March 31, 2013 to Jan. 31, the company widened its net loss.

Total net sales were $1.53 billion, down 8% from $1.66 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.7%.

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods announced it has hired Deborah Fine to fill a newly created role on its executive leadership team, chief commercial officer. Among other duties, Fine will head up the retailer’s digital strategy, transforming Modell’s into an Omnichannel retailer.

New York -- Tesco Plc plans to bring its value-priced F&F clothing format to the United States, opening seven stores on the East Coast this year with its U.S. franchise partner, Retail Group of America. The move comes some six months after Tesco sold off its struggling American supermarket operation, Fresh & Easy, to Ron Burkle's Yucaipa investment company.

Pep Boys is looking to accelerate a range of digital and physical offerings as part of a strategy called, “Road Ahead,” after the omnichannel efforts resulted in 152% growth.

Pep Boys operates 800 locations in 35 states with 7,500 service bays which differentiates the company from parts-only players such as AutoZone and Advance Auto Parts who perform basic services in their parking lots such as changing batteries or wiper blades.

Pleasanton, Calif. - Safeway Inc. has completed the distribution to its stockholders of 37.8 million shares of Class B common stock of Blackhawk Networks Holdings Inc. owned by Safeway. After the completion of the distribution, Safeway no longer owns any shares of Class B common stock of Blackhawk.