Corporate Governance

The New Year began in unconventional fashion for retailers in Colorado where legal sales of marijuana by specialty shops are creating wide-ranging ramifications for other retailers.

Products with curious sounding names such as Trainwreck and Sour Diesel went on sales early Wednesday morning at shops in Colorado where residents can buy up to one ounce per day after voters in 2012 approved an amendment to the state constitution. A similar measure was passed in Washington state and stores there are expected to begin marijuana sales later this year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Through the end of January 2014, customers at Walmart and Walgreens who have signed up for public health exchanges but have not yet received their plan identification information from their insurance providers will be able to fill up to a 30-day supply of prescriptions with no upfront cost.

Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger were among major retailers quick to implement temporary new programs designed to help customers coping with one of the many glitches associated with the roll out of the Affordable Care Act.

Louisville, Ky. — GBT Realty Corp. has closed on the purchase of approximately 32 acres along Shelbyville Road at I-265 for the development of Middletown Commons in Louisville, Ky. Plans call for the first tenants to open in late 2014.

The mixed-use power center will include more than 225,000 sq. ft. of retail space and six outparcels ranging from 0.6 acres to 1.88 acres. According to GBT Realty, total development costs will likely exceed $50 million.

Aldi already has a reputation for low prices and now it wants to shore up shoppers’ perception of quality with a new brand called SimplyNature.

The operator of 1,300 no frills food stores said the chainwide introduction of SimplyNature is a reflection of its commitment to emphasize impressively high quality products at impossibly low prices. SimplyNature features simple foods such as cereal, honey, fruit bars, apple juice, pasta sauce and snacks that are made with only all-natural or organic ingredients.

New York — Alfred Marshall, who founded the Marshalls chain in the mid-1950s with the motto “Brand Names for Less,” died on Saturaday in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 94.

In 1976, Marshall and his partners sold the company, which consisted of 36 stores in New England and California, to the Melville Corporation. IN 1995, TJX bought Marshalls, by which time it had grown to nearly 500 locations.

Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program has reached the initial goal of funding $10 million in low-interest loans to local and independent food businesses, and has now committed an additional $15 million for a total of $25 million in funding.

The Local Producer Loan Program (LPLP) has provided 184 loans to 155 companies since its inception in 2007.

Washington -- The National Retail Federation Thursday formally filed an appeal of a controversial antitrust lawsuit settlement covering credit card swipe fees, asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s ruling.