Corporate Governance

New York – Neiman Marcus reportedly first experienced a data security breach in July 2013 and did not fully resolve the issue until Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014. According to the New York Times, in a private call with credit card companies held Monday, Jan. 13, the time stamp on the first breach indicates it took place in mid-July.

Big data, the cloud and cognitive systems that learn are transforming the future of retail and IBM chairman, president and CEO Ginni Rometty explained during a stimulating and insightful presentation at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention.

“We’ve clearly entered a world that is mobile first,” Rometty said. “It is easy to say, but hard to do.”

New York -- The National Retail Federation is calling for the use of chip-and-PIN technology in credit and debit cards that. Experts say the technology, standard around the world, is more secure than the magnetic stripe cards that are still widely used throughout the United States.The technology has not been widely adopted in the United States, partly due to its higher cost  

Adverse weather conditions as well as power outages in some of Dollarama’s core markets throughout December 2013 resulted in a significant reduction in store traffic and the temporary closure of approximately 80 stores, for periods ranging from a few hours to two consecutive days. The majority of the impacted days occurred during the two weekends leading up to Dec. 25.

Albertsons has confirmed that it plans to close 26 locations.

“This is part of our typical review cycle, and after reviewing store performance, we determined that these stores could not be positioned for future profitability, with the exception of the two stores in Acme that were closed for underperformance. The two Acme stores were closed because the leases are expiring,” the company said in a statement sent to sister publication Drug Store News.

Woonsocket, R.I. – CVS Caremark has completed the acquisition of Coram LLC, the specialty infusion services and enteral nutrition business unit of Apria Healthcare Group Inc. Coram cares for approximately 165,000 patients annually and has 4,600 employees, including 600 nurses, 350 pharmacists and 250 dietitians, operating primarily through 85 branch locations and six centers of excellence for patient intake.

A 20,000-sq.-ft. store called TargetExpress is set to become the newest addition to the retailer’s portfolio of formats when it opens this July in downtown Minneapolis.

In an interview with The New York Times, Target EVP for property development John Griffith said Target signed a lease last week for a space on the ground floor of an apartment building called the Marshall which is under construction near the University of Minnesota campus. The store is scheduled to open July 27.

Armonk, N.Y. – IBM plans to commit more than $1.2 billion to significantly expand its global cloud footprint. This investment includes a network of data centers designed to bring clients greater flexibility, transparency and control of how they manage their data, run their businesses and deploy their IT operations in the cloud.