Corporate Governance

Sam’s Club this week opened a new 136,000-sq.-ft. club adjacent to a Walmart supercenter in La Marque, Texas.

The club, built in 1991, was relocated from neighboring Texas City. The communities are located along I-45 southeast of Houston en route to the coastal community of Galveston. The new club, Sam’s first of the year, is one of an expected 15 to 20 new units this year that mark Sam’s most aggressive expansion in roughly a decade. Sam’s ended last year with 620 clubs and sales of $56.4 billion.

WARRENDALE, Pa. — Teen apparel retailer Rue21, opened its 900th store on March 21 in the Southern Hills Shopping Center of West Plains, Mo. The 5,000 sq. ft. store is the company's 21st location in that state.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Whirlpool announced that its Gold Series Dishwasher with PowerScour, as well as four other Whirlpool Gold Series Dishwashers, earning the Good Housekeeping Seal by the Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI). 

This announcement comes on the heels of the GHRI awarding Whirlpool Gold® gas and electric ranges with TimeSavor Convection cooking with the Good Housekeeping Seal.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu announced that Janel Haugarth who will remain with the company as EVP and president of independent business and supply chain services. The announcement comes as Sam Duncan, Supervalu president and chief executive officer, continues finalizing his leadership team following the sale of five retail banners to AB Acquisition LLC, a transaction that was completed on March 21.

NEW YORK — New York & Company reported that net sales for the fourth quarter were $291.8 million, as compared with $271.8 million in the year-ago period. 

Comparable-store sales increased 2.3% compared with a decrease of 6.3% in the prior year fourth quarter.

Net income increased to $10.5 million, or 17 cents per diluted share. This compares with a net loss in the prior year fourth quarter of $10.9 million, or 18 cents per diluted share.

BOSTON — PYMNTS.com, a news website serving the payments industry, released its list of winners for the 2013 PYMNTS Innovator Awards. Winners were chosen across sixteen categories by a panel of judges with deep and practical expertise in payments and payments innovation. The top finalists in each category were given an award at the PYMNTS.com Innovator Awards Dinner held this year on March 21 at Annenberg Hall on the Harvard University Campus as part of The Innovation Project. B.J.

LOS ANGELES — U.K.-based Tesco has lost up to $2 billion in its failed Fresh & Easy California venture, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times — Tesco had placed the troubled grocer on the sales bloc in December following the departure of Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason. 

The retailer's struggles can be traced to labor unions and an ambitious investment into an 850,000-sq.-ft. distribution center that placed pressure on the 200-store chain to expand rapidly, according to the LA Times report. 

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware Corp. posted fiscal 2012 revenues of $3.8 billion, up 3.6% from the previous year. 

The co-op’s net income of $81.8 million increased 5.3% for the year.

“We are very pleased with our fiscal 2012 results as revenues and net income were both higher than last year and our plan,” said Ray Griffith, Ace CEO, who will be replaced by John Venhuizen as CEO, effective March 31.

New York -- In another sign that British retail giant Tesco is reconsidering its U.S. Fresh & Easy division, the company sent an email sent to shoppers in which it acknowledged that the grocer doesn't know "if Tesco will continue to own the company," the Los Angeles Times reported.
 
Fresh & Easy spokesman Brendan Wonnacott said that Tesco is still reviewing its American chain, and will make an update in April as part of the company's full-year results, the report said.

New York -- New York & Company reported net income for the fourth quarter of $10.5 million, compared with a net loss in the prior year fourth quarter of $10.9 million.

Net sales for the quarter were $291.8 million, up from $271.8 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales increased 2.3%.