Corporate Governance

TULSA, Okla. — Real estate auction company AmeriBid LLC announced that John Pellow, previously chief marketing officer, has been promoted to VP. 

"We are thrilled to have John's expertise and commitment to client service on the sales team at AmeriBid," comments Stan Schreyer, Chief Executive Officer. "There is no doubt that he will continue to drive success within the company and achieve significant goals in the process."

Food Network personality Paula Deen may not have a reputation for healthy cooking, but that’s not stopping her from traveling to Walmart’s hometown this weekend to participate in American Heart Association activities and receive a key to the city.

Deen and her husband Michael Groover will accept the key to Bentonville from Mayor Bob McCaslin on Friday afternoon and later in the evening Deen will guest at a kick-off event and reception supporting the American Heart Association’s Southwest Chapter.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales at Rite Aid decreased 2% in March, including a 3.8% increase in same-store sales on the front end and a 4.5% decrease in pharmacy sales.

The 4,621-store chain reported total sales for the month of $1.939 billion, a 2.5% decrease compared with $1.989 billion in March 2012, while same-store prescription count increased 0.3%.

The company said that of the 3.8% increase in front-end same-store sales, 3% came from a shift in timing of Easter, which fell on March 31, as opposed to April 8 last year.

MERRIMACK, N.H. — Brookstone announced that it has accepted the resignation of Stephen Bebis, its president and CEO and a member of the company's board of directors. Bebis' resignation will be effective April 4. Bebis joined Brookstone in May 2012.  

Effective upon Bebis' resignation, James M. Speltz, the company's VP, COO has been appointed as the company's new president and CEO.

AUSTIN, Texas — SecureNet Payment Systems, an innovative payment technology company directly connected to the major card networks, announced the company has exceeded $19 billion in annual transaction volume and increased its number of merchant partners to over 16,000. Additionally, SecureNet announced four new merchant service provider partnerships that will greatly expand the company's rapidly growing network of partners.

LOS ANGELES — Sport Chalet has launched a new service that it will give customers the opportunity to order merchandise online and have it delivered the same day.

Empty shelves at Walmart are getting a lot of attention these days, but the situation isn’t new and can’t be blamed entirely on store staffing levels.

ROANOKE, Va. — Advance Auto has named George Sherman president of the company as part of its effort to simplify company leadership.

In his role as president, Sherman will be responsible for growing commercial and driving excellence throughout the company’s operations. Sherman will lead the company’s commercial sales, field operations, store operations support, merchandising, marketing, supply chain and e-commerce teams.

New York -- Best Buy Co. Inc. and Target Corp. ended a partnership that positioned Geek Squad agents in Target stores in Denver and Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

The six-month pilot allowed Geek Squad personnel to offer services such as installation and repair to electronics customers at 29 Target stores. The program covered a wide range of consumer electronics products, according to the report.

New York -- In its annual report filed Tuesday, Abercrombie & Fitch revealed that it plans to open Abercrombie & Fitch flagship stores in Seoul and Shanghai in 2013, as well as 20 international Hollister stores. The news sent the teen retailer’s shares rising on Wednesday.

The company also said in the report that it is maintaining its focus on boosting profitability by simplifying processes, eliminating less-profitable parts of its business, shoring up efficiencies and cutting expenses.