Corporate Governance

Dallas -- Corner Bakery Café in 2013 signed 12 new area development agreements with franchisees, adding commitments for more than 120 new locations and raising the total to more than 300 cafes under development as the company moves forward on its goal to double its U.S. footprint in the next three years. Currently, Corner Bakery has more than 160 company-owned and franchised locations in 17 states and Washington, D.C.

Virtual Piggy, the provider of safe youth payments technology Oink, has teamed up with WorldPay US to increase its strategic 2014 merchant acquisition plans within the teen market.

The WorldPay payment processing platform is used for in-person credit and debit transactions, online and mobile payments. According to Oink, its relationship with WorldPay will bring the safe youth payments technology to the WorldPay merchant network and facilitate integrations into teen-focused retail websites and shops.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. continues to take steps in response to the holiday data breach that may have exposed the personal and financial data of up to 110 million consumers to hackers. The Wall Street Journal reports that Target shut down remote access to two internal sites in the aftermath of the massive attack.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples, Inc. is launching a new technology trade-in program. Staples already recycles electronic office products for free and now small businesses and consumers can trade-in a variety of used technology devices for Staples eCash Cards, which can be used in Staples stores or on Staples.com.

In anticipation of Super Bowl XLVIII, Macy’s has opened an exclusive NFL Shop at Super Bowl on the fourth floor of its flagship Herald Square in New York City. Macy’s will keep the 36,000-sq.-ft. space open through Tuesday, Feb. 4.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme has signed a development agreement with existing franchisee Great Circle Family Foods, LLC, to develop 20 new doughnut shops in Southern California during the next seven years. A Krispy Kreme franchise partner since 1998, Great Circle Family Foods currently operates 11 Krispy Kreme shops in Southern California.

The planned shops are expected to feature Krispy Kreme's new small factory design, including a drive-thru.

Sean Mayo, former director of strategic partnerships for Simon Business Ventures, part of Simon Property Group’s (SPG) marketing and business development arm, has been promoted to regional director of marketing, east region of The Mills portfolio.  

Perhaps no single brand had a holiday season quite as rocky as Sears. When the retailer announced a string of bad news on Jan. 9, shares of Sears Holding Corp. (which includes both Sears and Kmart) went through the floor. Holiday sales at Sears stores were down 9.2% in the nine weeks prior to Jan. 6, a brutal figure when you consider that overall retail sales were up slightly over the holidays (which I’ll discuss more in my next column).