Corporate Governance

Los Angeles -- Multiple reports on Tuesday said that British billionaire and Topshop owner Sir Philip Green is negotiating with Leonard Green & Partners to sell a 25% stake in the TopShop and Topman chains.

The two brands, which would be broken off from Philip Green’s other Arcadia Group retail holdings, are valued at $1.61 billion. An announcement is expected as early as Thursday.

Neither Philip Green nor Leonard Green has commented directly on the impending transaction.

Houston -- Francesca's Holdings Corp. reported Wednesday net income of $11 million, compared with $6.1 million in the year-ago period. Sales surged 44% to $72 million, driven by a 16.7% increase in same-store sales as well as 76 new boutique openings since the end of the third quarter last year.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. reported Wednesday that sales for November dipped 3.9% to $5.85 billion, compared with $6.09 billion for the same month in fiscal 2012.

Total front-end sales decreased 0.3% and same-store front-end sales decreased 1.7%.

Walgreens opened 39 stores during November, including 10 relocations and closed one.

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group said Wednesday it has acquired Paragon Outlets Grand Prairie in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Paragon Outlets Livermore Valley in Livermore, Calif.

Simon now owns 100% of each asset.

The 417,000-sq.-ft. Grand Prairie center is tenanted by Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Bloomingdale's The Outlet Store, Coach, Cole Haan, DKNY, Hugo Boss, Kate Spade New York, J.Crew, Michael Kors, Nike and Tommy Hilfiger. The center opened in August 2012 and is 100% leased.

New York -- As new CEO Ron Johnson works to transition the “old” J.C. Penney into a new era filled with shop-in-shops, he and his team have devised a way to keep the store looking fresh during the changeover: they use a lot of mannequins.

Read full story here.

Ridgefield, Conn. -- Schimenti Construction announced it has completed an expansion of its company headquarters in Ridgefield, Conn., doubling the size of the space from 10,000 sq. ft. to 20,000 sq. ft.

The expansion also includes a redesign of the main floor with the creation of a new reception area. A new executive conference room has been added on the first floor, as well as new waiting areas on both floors. A training space has been incorporated into the new design and a new employee café features a Starbucks coffee bar.

London -- Tesco CEO Philip Clarke announced Wednesday that the British supermarket retailer will likely sell or close its entire U.S. presence, which means that 199 Fresh & Easy stores could be shuttered or sold off.

According to multiple reports, Tesco is close to making the decision after five unprofitable years in the U.S. The retailer launched the concept in 2007, confident there was a niche for a grocery store with fresh food offerings formatted in a unique footprint that was smaller than a typical supermarket but larger than a c-store.

The addition of 27 new stores wasn’t enough to prevent Big Lots from reporting a 1.9% sales decline during the quarter ended October 27.

SmartWatch is the name of a new risk-monitoring tool LexisNexis created to help supply chain management professionals keep tabs on potentially disruptive events.

ATLANTA — Home Depot has added Samsung to its portfolio of leading appliance brands, which already includes Whirlpool, LG, GE, GE Profile, Maytag, Frigidaire, Electrolux and Adora.

The home improvement retailer will carry Samsung appliances at its more than 2,000 stores nationwide and online beginning Sunday, December 9.