Corporate Governance

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pier 1 reported sales and earnings growth for its second quarter, leaving president and CEO, Alex Smith confident about the future of the company heading into the holiday season. 

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack has announced that it is celebrating the arrival of Verizon Wireless products and services in more than 4,400 U.S. stores with a series of special offers. 

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart announced that it is launching the Latina Smart Fund in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Promoted through Kmart's Latina Smart Facebook page, the Latina Smart Fund will award $25,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors and/or students currently enrolled in college, technical or trade schools.   

DALLAS — JCPenney will unveil the newest iteration of its store model with the opening of its new Dallas store in the TimberCreek Crossing shopping center on Sept. 30.

The 105,000-sq.-ft. single-level store provides an assortment of services under one roof, including dedicated in-store environments for MNG by Mango and a 1,700-sq.-ft. Sephora shop.

NEW YORK — Saks announced that Denise Incandela, president Saks Direct and EVP of Saks Fifth Avenue, has been named chief marketing officer for Saks Fifth Avenue, a newly created role. She also will continue as president Saks Direct.

BRISBANE, Calif. — Wal-Mart Stores marked a major investment in social media and marketing with the announcement Wednesday that its technology unit @WalmartLabs has acquired mobile and social advertising firm OneRiot. 

NEW YORK — Walmart is bringing back its layaway program this holiday season, responding to pressures on low income consumers, MarketWatch reported.

Walmart, which canceled the program in 2006, except for fine jewelery, based on costs and limited use, is bringing back the program at its Walmart U.S. stores for Oct. 17 to Dec. 16 for electronics and toys, according to the report.

New York City -- Tiffany & Co. said Thursday it plans to open a store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood in September 2012.

The 7,000-sq.-ft. store will occupy a space that combines two locations -- 97 Greene Street and 106 Wooster Street. 

The 2012 opening corresponds to Tiffany’s 175th anniversary of its founding on Lower Broadway in the 1850s.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by Bloomberg said that U.S. consumer confidence held last week at the second-lowest level of 2011 as the highest number of households in three years said it was a bad time to spend.
 
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 49.3 in the period to Sept. 11, near the 2011 low of minus 49.4 reached in May. The buying climate gauge slumped to the lowest level since October 2008.

New York City -- Frederick's of Hollywood said Wednesday it has named former Gap executive Don Jones as its president and COO. He will be charged with helping to revitalize the Frederick’s Hollywood brand on an international scale.

Jones, most recently a retail consultant, was senior VP of stores and operations for Gap, where led the rollout of the Gap Body line.