Corporate Governance

New York -- U.S. chain-store sales posted a gain of 4.0% for the fiscal month of September on a year-over-year basis according to a tally compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Excluding gasoline sales, the September tally would actually be +5.1%.

West Chester, Pa. - Liberty Interactive Corporation plans to create a QVC Group tracking stock as part of a recapitalization of the Liberty Interactive Group tracking stock. The QVC Group class of common stock will track the value of QVC, Inc. and Liberty's approximate 38% interest in HSN, Inc., along with cash and certain liabilities.

Fred’s saw positive performance in its general merchandise and pharmacy departments, which lead to sales of $177.3 million in September, an increase of 4% over September 2012.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based company, which operates 702 stores in the South, said same-store sales increased by 2.8%, compared with a 3.8% decrease last year.

For the year to date, sales were $1.3 billion, a 1% increase over $1.3 billion during the same period last year. Same-store sales increased by 0.8%, compared with a 1.2% decrease last year.

Fremont, Calif. – The Men’s Wearhouse has appointed B. Michael Becker to its board of directors. Becker has served as a director at Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. since January 2008 and is chairman of its audit committee.

Becker spent his career as an audit partner for Ernst & Young LLP from 1979 until his retirement in 2006. He was a senior consultant on airline risks to Pay Pal, Inc. from August 2008 to November 2009.

Cosmetics retailer Lush is turning to Storage Made Easy’s Enterprise File Share and Sync solution with data stored on OpenStack Swift to help improve its global reach.


Lush ran an initial two month trial with 50 people prior to moving forward with the Storage Made Easy solution. They subsequently rolled out the solution in stages, by department, first to 150 people and then on to 300 people, and then again on to 500 people.

“Lush expects to reach more than 1,000 users by the time the solution is fully rolled out," said Jim Liddle, Storage Made Easy CEO.

Atlanta — Kimco Realty Corporation has acquired Five Forks Crossing, a 73,910-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored retail center in Lilburn, Ga., according to Transwestern, the firm that brokered the transaction.

Five Forks Crossing occupies 6.6 acres in Lilburn in the Gwinnett County submarket near Ronald Reagan Parkway. Anchored by Kroger, the property is 100% leased.

Transwestern represented the seller, SWA Investment.

Atlanta - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized The Home Depot with a 2013 WaterSense Retail Partner of the Year award. The Home Depot was honored during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference for its commitment to water efficiency and outstanding efforts to support the WaterSense program during 2012.

Dallas – SAP previewed a mobile app called Snap at its SAP Retail Forum held in Dallas Oct. 7-9. Designed for both tablets and smartphones, Snap is aimed at consumers who purchase items that require DIY assembly.