Corporate Governance

New York — Organic burger restaurant Bareburger has signed a lease for 1,875 sq. ft. at 795 Columbus Avenue in New York City. It will be the chain’s first Upper West Side location as well as the first sit-down restaurant to lease space in the Columbus Square development project.

Winick Realty Group represented Bareburger in the transaction.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Private investment firm Yucaipa Cos., which was founded by billionaire Ron Burkle, plans to acquire Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market from U.K.-based Tesco PLC.

Yucaipa's purchase is slated to be complete within three months. In the meantime, it is expected to be business as usual for most Fresh & Easy stores.

Coppell, Texas – Alco Stores, Inc. is not accepting an acquisition proposal from Everbright Development Overseas, Ltd., Luis Chang and Mai Wong. The Alco board of directors has determined that the proposal, tendered on Sept. 6, is not a superior proposal to a roughly $47 million offer the retailer received from Argonne Capital Group LLC on July 25.

Richfield, Minn. -- Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Best Buy Co., Inc., exercised and sold 350,467 stock options and sold 100,686 shares of company stock on Sept. 6. Joly sold the stock due to circumstances relating to his divorce that was concluded in June of this year.

“As reflected in the Form 4, Joly's holdings remain substantially in excess of his 140,000 share ownership target under the company's executive stock ownership guidelines following the reported transaction,” Best Buy said in a press release.

Corte Madera, Calif. -- Restoration Hardware Holdings reported a net loss  of $17.8 million for the second quarter, compared with net income of $17.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier, due to charges linked to stock awards given to chairman and co-CEO Gary Friedman.

Net revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 30% to $382.1 million from $292.9 million last year.

NEW YORK — Tiffany & Co. has appointed Francesca Amfitheatrof as the company’s design director. Amfitheatrof will oversee design of all Tiffany product categories.

“Tiffany has a brilliant legacy of legendary style and design. When we combine this legacy with Francesca’s passion for jewelry and craftsmanship we have an exciting opportunity to interpret Tiffany in a new way for the modern, global consumer,” said Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and CEO.

Los Angeles -- Grocery chain Fresh & Easy confirmed reports that its British parent Tesco LLC has sold the brand to private equity firm The Yucaipa Cos., following months of uncertainty about the 200+-unit chain’s future.

Fresh & Easy posted on its website Tuesday that more than 4,000 jobs would be saved under the purchase agreement but that some stores will be closing. Specific stores have not been identified, and the terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.

An article that recently caught my eye adds more evidence to my growing suspicion (and I know I am far from alone in this) that the near-term to mid-term retail outlook might not be quite as positive as we may have thought just a few months ago. The piece, “Gap Stands out Among Retailers in Tough Quarter,” in Women’s Wear Daily highlighted the sobering second-quarter numbers from a long list of big retail brands. As the title implies, Gap, Inc.