Corporate Governance

By Craig Johnson, president, Customer Growth Partners

Washington, D.C. – Retail sales fell in September for the first time in six months, but the decline was credited to a drop-off in auto purchases. Most U.S. retail sectors experienced broad sales gains during the month, according to the National Retail, which reported that,  excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, retail sales grew a seasonally 0.6% compared to the previous month and 3.8% unadjusted compared to the prior year.

Results of specific sectors include:

Overstock.com has released the first commercial in its new series starring NFL coach and Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka and quarterback Jim McMahon.

"Overstock.com was pleased to bring together the two powerhouses of Mike Ditka and Jim McMahon once again," said Overstock.com co-president, Stormy Simon. "Coach Ditka portrays the same passion and excitement we feel about our business."

New York -- Bloomingdale’s longtime chief executive and chairman, Michael Gould, 70, is stepping down after 22 years on the job. He will be succeeded by Tony Spring, 48, currently Bloomingdale’s president and COO, effective Feb. 1, 2014. A successor to Spring as president of Bloomingdale’s is expected to be named in 2014.

Crossmark has appointed former GlaxoSmithKline executive Janet Carter-Smith as VP of business development.

In her role, Carter-Smith will be focused on working with new client opportunities across Crossmark’s portfolio of services.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. -- Whole Food Market will open its seventh San Francisco location — and 31st in the Bay Area — on Nov. 6. The store is the company’s 31st in the Bay Area.

“We’ll have all our regular healthy and über-local food options, plus some cool new services like a shoeshine station, fresh cut-to-order honeycomb, a Paleo bar, an oyster shuck pop-up and a coffee bar close to the entrance, so it’s easy to grab a cup while you’re waiting for the bus,” said Paula Richmond, store team leader.

Tucson, Ariz. — Little Caesar Enterprises has signed a 1,494-sq.-ft. lease in Northgate Plaza in Tucson, Ariz. Expected to open in the first quarter of 2014, it will be Little Caesars Pizza’s sixteenth store in Tucson.

Commercial Retail Advisors represented the landlord, TNP SRT Portfolio I, and Retail Advisors Southwest represented Little Caesar Enterprises.

Waldorf, Germany -- By 2015, retailing will be marked by redefined customer interaction, a new level of real-time customer data, and a global, verticalized supply chain. According to an SAP-sponsored webinar hosted by Chain Store Age on Oct. 29, “Improving Retail Decisions with Big Data and Predictive Analysis,” the plethora of Big Data retailers can now process will make this evolution possible.