Corporate Governance

NEW YORK — A New York state Supreme Court filing on Monday disclosed that Macy’s Inc. is suing Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. for breach of contract after Martha Stewart set up a new deal last December with JCPenney to sell products at its stores.

LEXINGTON, Mass. — Collective Brands Performance and Lifestyle Group has announced the appointment of Rick Blackshaw as president of the Keds brand. Blackshaw has extensive footwear experience with brands including Converse, Timberland, and the former division of Reebok, Avia, and most recently served as VP and general manager for the Chuck Taylor All Star Division of Converse Inc. He will start in his new role Jan. 24 and succeeds Kristin Kohler Burrows who recently departed the position to pursue career opportunities closer to her home in New York. 

New York City -- Coach Inc. reported Tuesday that net earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 15% to $347.5 million, compared with $303.4 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 15% to $1.45 billion, beating Wall Street’s expected $1.43 billion in revenue.

London -- A report released Tuesday by Bloomberg said that U.K. clothing chain Bonmarche will close as many as 160 out of 390 stores after its owner Peacock Group sold the chain to an affiliate of Sun European Partners.

KPMG administrated the transaction; the new buyer said that about 2,400 of 3,800 jobs will be retained.

The report said that KPMG had been seeking a buyer for Bonmarche since being appointed earlier this month as administrator to Peacock, which also owns Peacock’s Stores Ltd., a U.K. discount apparel chain.

West Chester, Ohio -- Ikea said Tuesday that it has officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its Cincinnati-area store in West Chester, Ohio. 

The 128,000-sq.-ft. PV array consists of a 1,026-kW system, built with 4,186 panels. Ikea West Chester’s program will produce approximately 1,334,300 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 1,014 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 180 cars or powering 115 homes yearly.

Lexington, Mass. -- Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group announced on Tuesday the appointment of Rick Blackshaw as president of the Keds brand, effective immediately.

Blackshaw, who most recently served as VP and general manager for the Chuck Taylor All Star Division of Converse, succeeds Kristin Kohler Burrows, who left to pursue other opportunities. 
 

Dallas -- HR solution-provider PeopleAnswers and Canada-based Town Shoes, which sells under Town Shoes and The Shoe Co., announced Tuesday that Town Shoes will use the PeopleAnswers pre-employment and employee selection solution in its 124 stores across Canada.

New York City -- Retail workforce management solution-provider WorkPlace Systems announced that Rite Aid will use WorkPlace OnLine, a cloud-based Schedule and Attendance Management service, at all Rite Aid stores.

Chattanooga, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties announced that in 2012 it will complete multimillion dollar renovations at four market-dominant CBL Malls, with projects scheduled for Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville, N.C.; Post Oak Mall in College Station, Texas; Turtle Creek Mall in Hattiesburg, Miss.; and Mall del Norte in Laredo, Texas. 

The renovations are expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Regency Centers announced it has closed on the acquisition of its first New York property, the 141,382-sq.-ft. Lake Grove Commons, for $72.5 million with its co-investment partner First Washington Realty.

Located on Long Island, Lake Grove Commons is a Class A property anchored by the only Whole Foods Market in Suffolk County along with LA Fitness and Petco. Built in 2008, the center is fully leased to six national tenants.