Corporate Governance

NEW YORK — NYSW Beverage Brands has named Amir J. Daibes, P.E., the new president and part owner of the company. Daibes joined the New York-based bottled water company after more than 30 years in the engineering, manufacturing and construction industry.

“This is an exciting, young company positioned for growth with great products and tremendous potential in the marketplace,” Daibes said.  “I am honored to be part of the team, and look forward to building its brands and footprint.

Optimism, skepticism, confidence and concern are among the wide range of emotions shared by Walmart trading partners who participated in the Second Annual Supplier Survey conducted by Connecting Northwest Arkansas. 

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s announced that it plans to open a new customer support center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The center is expected to be operational during the first quarter of 2012 and is estimated to create 250 jobs by March and a total of 600 jobs by the end of 2013.

San Mateo, Calif. -- IBM and DemandTec announced Thursday that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement for IBM to acquire DemandTec in a deal worth approximately $440 million.

IBM said the acquisition of DemandTec will extend its Smarter Commerce initiative by adding cloud-based price, promotion and other merchandising and marketing analytics to help companies better define the best price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday said that consumer confidence in the U.S. was little changed for a second week, holding at a level typically reached during past recessions.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was at minus 50.3 in the period ended Dec. 4, after a reading of minus 50.2 the prior week. The gauge has been at minus 50 or worse for 11 of the past 12 weeks.

Yonkers, N.Y. -- Despite flagging consumer confidence, December's Consumer Reports Index, a measure of overall consumer financial health, showed that the holiday season is off to a good start, with excellent activity in November and the prospect of a strong December.

The Past 30-Day Retail Index for December was 13.9, up from 12.4 a year ago, and planned spending for December was also strong at 12.7 compared to 11.8 last year. Among the categories comprising the Retail Index, the largest gains were in personal electronics.

Buffalo, N.Y. -- Lifestyle brand New Era said it has opened its eleventh global flagship store, located in the West Hollywood shopping district of Los Angeles.

The brand’s first West Coast retail space joins current U.S. locations in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The 3,300-sq.-ft. store will house licensed and New Era branded headwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and kids.

Costa Mesa, Calif. -- Ikea said Thursday it has officially plugged-in four Blink Pedestal electric vehicle charging stations at its Costa Mesa, Calif., store as part of its partnership with ECOtality.

The initiative represents the fourth such project for IKEA in the United States.  Installation also is planned at five other IKEA stores in the Western U.S. 

New York City -- Saks Fifth Avenue announced Thursday a redesign of the SaksPOV website.

SaksPOV presents a point of view from Fifth Avenue on fashion, culture and art, and the site features robust multimedia content, designer features, Saks brand coverage and lifestyle pieces. SaksPOV launched initially in December 2010.

“We will use SaksPOV as an outlet to engage with our customers and as a portal for our fashion lifestyle content,” said Denise Incandela, CMO and president of Saks Direct.
 

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s said Thursday it will open a new Customer Support Center in Albuquerque, N.M., in first quarter 2012.

The center is estimated to create 250 jobs by March and a total of 600 jobs by the end of 2013.