Corporate Governance

Atlanta -- Consumer spending reached a three-year low during the month of December, according to a report released Thursday by First Data Corp.

First Data’s SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

Los Angeles -- CBRE Group reported Thursday that, despite sluggish economic growth, the U.S. commercial real estate market remained on a recovery path in fourth quarter 2012.

The retail availability rate declined slightly to 12.8%, down 10 bps compared with the previous quarter.

“The broken record of slow but positive progress toward a real estate recovery continues to repeat,” said Jon Southard, managing director of CBRE’s Econometric Advisors Group.

New York -- Fast Retailing Co., parent to the Uniqlo chain, reported Thursday that net income for the fiscal first quarter jumped 17% to $644.3 million, boosted by strong same-store sales at Japan Uniqlo units.

On Wednesday, the company announced that Uniqlo will continue its U.S. expansion strategy by opening two new mall locations in New York.

The company has raised its annual profit forecast.

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft announced that J.C. Penney is rolling out Microsoft Office 365 as part of its effort to simplify and modernize technology solutions.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. said it is opening its first Destination Maternity store in Canada on Thursday in Calgary, Alberta, at the Kingsland Village retail development.

The store will debut its A Pea in the Pod brand in Canada.

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods said Wednesday it has named Charles Castaneda chief merchandising officer for the chain, a promotion from his current position of EVP planning and allocations.

The company has also moved Jay O’Brien from general merchandising manager of footwear to general merchandising manager of sporting goods, to succeed the recently departed Bill Hackett.  

Jeff Schaffer has been promoted to general merchandising manager of footwear.

Salt Lake City -- Overstock.com said Thursday it is launching the Club O Dining Rewards program in partnership with Rewards Network.

The enhancement to the e-retailer’s current loyalty program allows members to automatically receive reward dollars in their Club O account equal to 5% of their total dining bill when they visit participating Club O Dining Rewards restaurants and pay their bill using any credit or debit card they have registered with their Dining Rewards account.   

Vista, Calif. -- Consumer electronics recycler E-World Online said Wednesday that it has teamed with Costco Wholesale Corp. on the launch of a national program to make managing merchandise returns more sustainable.

E-World Online’s Retail Return Program will track returned merchandise and find markets for reusable or recyclable products. Costco has implemented, trained and deployed E-World Online’s RRP program in all of its U.S. warehouses, making it the largest such retail return program, according to E-World Online.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu Inc. announced Thursday that it has reached a deal to sell its Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's and Star Market stores and related Osco and Sav-on in-store pharmacies to a private equity group in a transaction valued at $3.3 billion.

AB Acquisition, a consortium of investors led by Cerberus Capital Management, will get 877 stores across the various banners in the deal. The investor group also includes Kimco Realty Corp., Klaff Realty LP, Lubert-Adler Partners and Schottenstein Real Estate Group.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Designer Shoe Warehouse will use VendorNet’s StoreNet Live tool to strengthen its e-commerce position by improving fulfillment for online sales.