Corporate Governance

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Retail Inflation, a strong fuelperks! rewards program and increased sales at remodeled stores helped grow identical-store sales at Winn-Dixie Stores by 3.3% during the first quarter of fiscal 2012. This increase was also aided by a 5.5% increase in basket size, but partially offset by a 2.1% decrease in transaction count. The company announced that net sales for the first quarter were $1.6 billion, an increase of $48.2 million or 3.1% compared with the same period in the prior fiscal year. 

MINNEAPOLIS — The unexpected announcement that Target EVP and CFO Doug Scovanner will retire on March 31, 2012 has investors speculating about the reasons for his departure following the recent exit of other key executives.

Analysts at Bernstein Research pointed to the fact that no successor has been named, suggesting that the retirement was not a long planned for event. However, the firm said it believes that despite the unexpected news, this appears to be a true retirement and doesn't anticipate seeing Scovanner in a CFO role at another major company.

ATLANTA — OfficeMax is using RedPrairie Corp.'s Enterprise Workforce Management tool to boost labor efficiencies and manage costs enterprise-wide across its supply chain and retail stores, RedPrairie announced in a company press release.

RedPrairie’s Enterprise Workforce Management solution enables retailers to manage their workforce holistically addressing time and attendance, forecasting, scheduling, labor standards, execution management and learning management, according to the company. 

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys“R”Us announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Li & Fung Retailing that would make Toys"R"Us Inc. the majority shareholder of Toys"R"Us operations in Southeast Asia and Greater China. With this agreement, the existing Toys“R”Us licensed operations throughout Asia, which currently consist of more than 100 stores and offices across nine markets, will become 70% majority owned and controlled by Toys“R”Us Inc. and 30% owned by Li & Fung Retailing.

MIRAMAR, Fla. — Russell Hobbs, the licensee of the Farberware brand, announced that it has launched an exclusive line of small kitchen appliances at Walmart.

Farberware's line of products includes a chic, programmable coffee and tea maker, a dual-function food processor and a powerhouse 10-speed blender. All have stainless steel finishes and unparalleled craftsmanship perfect for the home chef that is interested in high-quality, great-looking appliances at an affordable price, according the company. All items are priced at $59.88 each.

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association on Tuesday issued a statement in response to Bank of America’s decision to abandon its plan to charge new fees on debit card users.

New York City -- RCS Real Estate Advisors said Tuesday it has been retained by bridal retailer Priscilla of Boston to facilitate the closing of its business.

According to Ivan L. Friedman, president and CEO of RCS, the company will facilitate the closing of all 20 Priscilla of Boston locations, effective Dec. 31, by negotiating cost-effective lease terminations or locating replacement tenants.

Priscilla of Boston announced its closing in early September.
 

York, Pa. -- As part of a real estate realignment strategy, The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. on Tuesday said it will close two of its department stores, one in Pennsylvania and the other in Ohio, when their leases expire in early 2012.

The company said it plans to close its store in the West Manchester Mall in York, Pa., in January, and its Elder-Beerman store in the Northwest Mall in Dayton, Ohio, which will shut down in February.

Chicago -- True Value Co. reported Tuesday that profit for the third quarter increased 3.4% to $18.1 million, compared with $17.5 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 3.6% to $445.7 million, from $430.2 million.

According to the cooperative, 788,000 sq. ft. of retail space has been covered to its recommended Destination True Value prototype so far this fiscal year, up 13.5 % from 694,000 sq. ft. last year.
 

San Jose, Calif. -- VeriFone Systems said Tuesday it has acquired mobile retail solution-provider Global Bay Mobile Technologies. According to VeriFone, the acquisition is part of its strategy to integrate mobile with retail and payments, extending new smartphone- and tablet-based shopping and payment experiences to retail organizations.

Terms of the transaction, which closed effective Tuesday, were not disclosed.