Corporate Governance

Hong Kong -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that J. Crew will open its first Asia store – in Hong Kong – as early as 2013. CEO Millard “Mickey” Drexler told the news service that the retailer is also seeking sites in Beijing and Shanghai.

“We feel that we’re ready to go international,” said Drexler. “Going international is a strong learning curve and it could distract us from building our business in the United States, but we feel that the time is right now.”

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us on Tuesday said that by the end of 2012 it will have opened eight new stores and remodeled 13 existing locations to the side-by-side Toys “R” Us/Babies “R” Us model.

The retailer said the 21 stores across 13 states are representative of its strategy to bring both concepts together in an integrated store format.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s Cos. on Tuesday confirmed a July 8 proposal to acquire Canadian home-improvement and hardware retailer Rona, but said the Quebec-based chain rejected the $1.9 billion offer.

According to the 800-store Rona, the sale to Lowe’s would not be in its best interests.

"Rona's strategic focus remains to execute on its business plan with a view to capturing the significant opportunities that it sees for the business," Rona said in a statement.

I’ll say this for Ron Johnson: He has turned staid J.C. Penney into the most talked-about retailer in the nation. The company accounted for five of the 10 most-viewed stories on this website in the first half of 2012 (see story). And industry analysts and consultants can’t stop speculating on the chain’s fortunes, in print, on the web and on television.

Retired KPMG International chairman Timothy Flynn was named to the Walmart board of directors on Monday amid ongoing investigations into whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

HOUSTON — Retail financial services provider Cardtronics announced that its Harris Teeter- located ATMs will be branded by PNC Bank. The ATMs will be surcharge-free fro PNC Bank customers. Harris Teeter operates a regional chain of supermarkets, with its base of operations in North Carolina. Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM) is the world's largest retail ATM owner.  

Epicor Software Corporation and True Value Co., announced the continuation of an agreement naming Epicor as True Value's recommended Epicor(R) Eagle(R) point-of-sale (POS) solution provider.

This 3-year agreement provides more of True Value's retailers the opportunity to benefit from Epicor solutions, according to the companies.

Newell Rubbermaid’s net sales declined 1.9% to $1.52 billion in the second quarter ended June 30. Net income declined 23.8% to $111.8 million. But those declines didn’t prevent CEO Michael Polk from looking at the bright side and pointing to momentum.

Core sales, which exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency translation, grew by 0.4%. And net sales for the first six months were $2.85 billion, up 1.0 % from the first-half results last year.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola has streamlined its operating structure and the senior leaders for those businesses, the company said.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu on Monday named Wayne Sales, a Canadian hall-of-fame-caliber retailer, as the company's president and CEO, replacing Craig Herkert.

“In my new role, I will work closely with our leadership team to improve our sales and earnings trajectory and generate long-term shareholder value, focusing relentlessly on identifying factors that will drive meaningful improvements in our strategy execution and overall performance,” Sales stated.