Corporate Governance

ATLANTA — First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, has announced that CEO Jon Judge plans to retire from the company for health reasons.

First Data offers e-commerce solutions to merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its product portfolio and expertise to drive customer revenue and profitability, and facilitates payment by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter.

FRISCO, Texas — National Envelope, a privately held envelopes manufacturer in North America, has appointed former Tyco executive Jim Pinto to president and COO.

An affiliate of global investment firm the Gores Group, National Envelope regards itself as an environmental leader in the paper and envelope converting industries and has certifications from the Forest Stewardship Council, Rainforest Alliance, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification and Green Seal.

New York -- Two armed men invaded a Nordstrom Rack in Los Angeles on Thursday night and took 14 employees captive, sexually assaulting one, injuring three others and locking the detainees in a storage room for hours, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The hours-long hostage drama ended early Friday with a police SWAT team surging into the shop and rescuing 14 workers. The armed men escaped.

Washington -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 2.3% in January over the same month last year as retailers continue to urge labor and management to avoid a strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast docks, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. A strike would close 14 ports from Maine to Texas where nearly 15,000 dockworkers handle 40% of the nation’s ocean cargo.


New York -- The 2012 holiday shopping season didn’t provide the sales and traffic lift anticipated by retailers, according to Experian FootFall. The company said the season got off to a blazing start as consumers responded to some of the earliest Black Friday sales and promotions, effectively extending the Black Friday shopping experience to a four-day event. Following this annual start to the season that accounted for billions of dollars in retail sales, the 2012 calendar shift began to impact consumer behavior.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that Enrique Ostale, president and CEO of Walmart Chile, formerly D&S, has been named EVP, president and CEO of Walmart Latin America, where he will oversee Walmart's operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Minneapolis -- Target announced plans to open a store in Huntington, N.Y. in October.

To date, Target has announced plans to open 17 Target stores in 2013.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. on Friday reported revenue of $12.8 billion for the nine weeks ended January 5, 2013, compared with $12.9 billion for the nine weeks ended December 31, 2011. Online revenue rose 10%.

Same-store sales were down 1.4%.  Domestic same-store sales were flat, but fell 6.4% internationally.

CHICAGO — "[The year] 2012 was definitely an important year for Walgreens," Greg Wasson, Walgreens president and CEO, told shareholders here, at the Navy Pier, Wednesday afternoon, at the chain's annual shareholder meeting. "We did make some tough choices to protect and solidify … our position for the long term," he said. "[But] our vision is crystal clear to become the first choice for health and daily living in America."

AURORA, Ill. – Peerless-AV, a leading supplier of brackets to mount flat-panel televisions and audio-visual accessories, has appointed Hal Truax as managing director of retail sales.

Truax, a 30-year veteran in the audiovisual industry, will be charged with expanding the company's on-the-shelf presence in the U.S., building on the success of retail placements in global markets.