Corporate Governance

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot announced that it has been named to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of 2012 Energy Star Leaders for Leadership in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Office Depot’s significant energy reduction makes the retailer the first ever retailer in the United States to be recognized for a 30% or greater improvement.

Los Angeles -- Private equity firm Brentwood Associates has acquired a majority stake in Sundance Holdings Group ("Sundance Catalog").

Sundance Catalog, founded by Robert Redford in 1989 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a multichannel direct marketer and specialty retailer of women's apparel and accessories, jewelry and home furnishings. Selling shareholders, including ACI Capital and Webster Capital, will retain a minority ownership stake, and the business will remain under the leadership of current president and CEO Matey Erdos.

Seattle -- REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) said Tuesday it will make its state debut in Kansas in fall 2013, with a new store in Overland Park, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City.

The 23,500-sq.-ft. REI Overland Park will be located at Prairiefire at Lionsgate. Approximately 50-60 new hires are planned.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 1.6% in July compared with the same month last year, and modest year-over-year increases are expected through the holiday season shipping cycle, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

New York -- Supermarket operator Bi-Lo has installed insulated glass doors to previously open Hussman cases in three Bi-Lo stores in Tennesse. The retro-fit doors, RemiSafe, are from Remis America, a joint venture between, DEHCO, Inc., Elkhart, Ind., and Remis GmbH of Cologne, Germany. 

Atlanta -- Stibo Systems announced that Best Buy Canada has selected Stibo Systems to optimize its customer’s online and mobile e-commerce experience.

Best Buy Canada, which operates roughly 225 consumer electronics stores under the brands Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, and Future Shop, will use Stibo Systems’ Step platform to support their multichannel efforts and to streamline item setup and data management for the English-Canadian and French-Canadian versions of www.bestbuy.ca and www.futureshop.ca.
 

New York -- J.C. Penney Co. on Tuesday announced that it is eliminating approximately 350 positions at its headquarters in Plano, Texas, completing a reorganization of its corporate office that it said was designed to create a leaner and more simplified operating structure.

By Dan Olson, [email protected]

New York – A study released Tuesday by Accenture found that, in the grocery arena, store brands continue to steal sales from brand-name products.

According to Accenture’s poll of 500 U.S. consumers, 64% said their grocery carts were at least half full of store-brand products, and 39% said they have increased their purchase of store-brands in recent years as a result of the tough economic times.

Dallas – Tuesday Morning Corp. reported Tuesday that sales for the quarter ended June 30 edged up 0.8% to $196.4 million, compared with $194.8 million in the year-ago period.

Same-store sales rose 0.2%, comprised of a 2.7% decrease in traffic and a 2.9% increase in ticket. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012, net sales were $812.8 million compared to $821.1 million for fiscal 2011.

Based upon the results of the fourth quarter, Tuesday Morning said it expects to narrow its Q4 loss from last year’s quarter.