Corporate Governance

Cranston, R.I. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said that LA Fitness will make its Rhode Island state debut at Garden City Center, located in Cranston.

The 38,000-sq.-ft., two-level facility will be located next to Office Max; a former Borders will be demolished to make way for LA Fitness.

Construction will begin in January 2013 with a late December 2013 or early 2014 opening set.

Beachwood, Ohio -- DDR Corp. has announced the appointment of Martin McGreevy as senior VP and chief marketing officer for the company.

McGreevy is charged with establishing and executing the company's corporate messaging, branding and marketing strategy.

Prior to joining DDR, McGreevy was president of Cyclonix Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based marketing and consulting firm.
 

Rochester Hills, Mich. -- Brixmor Property Group announced that a 8,001-sq.-ft. Dress Barn recently opened at Hampton Village Centre, located in Rochester Hills, Mich.

Brixmor, based in New York City, is the owner of Hampton Village Centre.
 

South Plainfield, N.J. -- Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based WP Realty and Angelo, Gordon & Co. said that the pair has Oak Park Commons in South Plainfield, N.J.

Oak Park Commons is a one-story, 136,939-sq.-ft. community shopping center anchored by A&P Supermarket in 60,025 sq. ft. and includes a mix of national, regional, and local tenants. It is currently 76% occupied.
 

Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon was feeling pretty good earlier this week as he reeled off accomplishments and emerging opportunities during a presentation at a Goldman Sachs retail conference.

Simon appeared at the same conference two years earlier when Walmart was in a very different place in terms of its financial performance and its share price. His presentation this year was markedly different given all that has occurred under his leadership.

Thursday, September 13 at 9 a.m. central time is the start date for another one of Walmart’s sustainability milestone meetings. The company uses the gatherings, Webcast from its home office auditorium, to highlight a wide range of environmental initiatives that increasingly contribute to efforts to operate more efficiently.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — MasterCard  has acquired Truaxis, Inc., a Silicon Valley, California-based provider of relevant credit and debit card-linked offers to consumers through merchants and financial institutions.

MALLE, Belgium — Belgium-based cleaning brand Ecover, said it has created the world's argest green cleaning product company with the acquisition of San Francisco-based Method.

The acquisition will expand Ecover's distribution network across Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia. Collectively delivering sales of $200 million and employing around 300 staff, Ecover and Method will continue as separate brands with a shared ambition to bring as many new consumers as possible into the green cleaning and personal care market, the company said.

CINCINNATI — Kroger attributed its gains in sales and earnings in the second quarter to cost control and increased customer loyalty and was confident enough to raise its earnings guidance.

The retailer reported net earnings of $279.1 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $280.8 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens reported August sales of $5.9 billion, a decrease of 4.5% as compared with the same month in fiscal 2011.

August pharmacy sales decreased 7.2%, while comparable-store pharmacy sales decreased 12.4%. In addition to the Express Scripts impact, comparable-store pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 7.9 percentage points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months. Pharmacy sales accounted for 64.1% of total sales for the month.