Corporate Governance

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- The board of directors of Wet Seal Inc. has decided to reduce the cash compensation for its directors by 20% for the remainder of fiscal 2014. Wet Seal will also reduce the number of director nominees to be elected at its upcoming annual meeting from nine to seven.

Kathy Bronstein recently resigned from The Wet Seal’s board of directors, effective April 4.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reportedly plans to open an additional 40 to 50 wholesale cash-and-carry stores in India during the next four years and also launch an Indian e-commerce operation. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart will begin e-commerce sales in India during summer 2014 with one wholesale store offering goods online and delivering them for pickup at other local retailers up to about 25 miles away.

Come on down to Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, and maybe you’ll get to be on television.

The entertainment news magazine “Extra” and Westfield, which owns and operates 38 shopping centers nationwide, have formed a partnership to deliver fashion, lifestyle and celebrity news and features to television audiences from Westfield Century City.

Reston, Va. – Clarabridge, Inc., a provider of intelligent customer experience management (CEM) solutions, is acquiring Market Metrix, an enterprise feedback management platform in the leisure and hospitality industries. Market Metrix will complement and extend Clarabridge’s analytics and measurement-focused CEM offerings with the addition of a robust, results-oriented feedback management platform.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in March 2013 versus March 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. H.E.B. and Publix topped the charts in circular page change, with increases of 27.8% and 41.2%, respectively. The massive increase at Publix was attributable to the release of an additional circular this March (five versus four in 2013), while H.E.B. simply ran more pages in each of its five March circulars (eight to 12 pages each this year, as opposed to six to eight last year).

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp. agreed to pay $20 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it misled investors in 2009 during a debt offering and by accounting improperly for an acquisition.

The SEC said CVS failed to disclose while marketing $1.5 billion of bonds in September 2009 having recently lost significant Medicare and contract revenue streams in its pharmacy benefits manager business.

Montmartre, France — Le Coq Rico, a popular Montmartre, France, restaurant has signed into its first location in the United States on 20th Street between Park Avenue South and Broadway in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The space includes 3,000 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 1,800 sq. ft. on the lower level.

Winick realty Group represented landlord Walter Samuels in the long-term lease transaction. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the restaurant.

A kosher deli and Murray’s Cheese shop will be part of a new 72,000-sq.-ft. Ralph’s Fresh Fare supermarket set to open on Thursday, April 10 in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks.