Events

The world’s largest company held its annual shareholders meeting Friday morning and the most noteworthy development at the event — aside from a $15 billion share repurchase authorization — was a surprise appearance and glowing comments by Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise.

As fans of the late ’90s Ben Affleck-Matt Damon film “Good Will Hunting” know, Cambridge, Mass., is often viewed as the province of what are locally referred to as “smaht kids.” I was privileged to be surrounded by “smaht kids” (or their grown-up equivalent) during the recent MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, which was held at Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus in Cambridge. While there, I got to listen to their insights on how the evolution of IT and business is dramatically changing the role of the CIO.

New York -- Same-stores sales increased 3.2% in May, edging up from a 3% gain in April, according to a preliminary tally of 12 retailers by the International Council of Shopping Centers.  

The number of retailers reporting same-store sales has dropped dramatically over the past two years, with major department store companies and discounters no longer reporting. Many specialty fashion chains are also following suit. Some experts caution that the results are now so limited they are not representative of the industry at large.

Walmart U.S. chief merchandising and marketing officer Duncan Mac Naughton will have some explaining to do next week when he is scheduled to participate in the 33rd Annual William Blair Growth Stock Conference on Wednesday, June 12.

Store level execution, a topic near but not always so dear to the hearts of Walmart suppliers, will be the focus of a Doing Business in Bentonville event scheduled for next Wednesday.

DALLAS — AT&T and IBM teamed up to deliver an e-commerce solution that retailers can use to provide their customers with a consistent shopping experience whether they are shopping online, via a mobile app or in stores.

The new service, expected to be available this year, combines AT&T’s cloud, application management and network services with e-commerce software from IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative in a single, subscription-based package designed for retailers.

Port Chester, N.Y. -- Royal Properties has leased 5,630 sq. ft. in the historic Port Chester, N.Y., train station to Heartland Brewery. According to Royal Properties, the lease will run for 20 years and offer a five-year option.

Heartland will open a food hall and beer garden restaurant in the station, which was constructed in 1890. To be called Port Chester Hall, the restaurant will feature a 3,600-sq.-ft. outdoor area with seating for 85.

New York -- Kate Spade Saturday, a new division of Kate Spade, has partnered with eBay Inc. to open four pop-up storefronts with shoppable windows across downtown Manhattan.

The format will consist of a large interactive screen, open for business 24 hours a day. Shoppers can browse and select from among some 30 products and checkout via the screen, with the product delivered in approximately one hour, or scheduled within the week. The pop-ups will be open from  June 8 through July 7.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation has launched Retail Jobs powered by NRF, a recruiting and search tool developed specifically for retailers and job seekers.

The job board will serve as a fundamental part of NRF’s This Is Retail: Careers, Community, Innovation campaign, launched in April.

NEW YORK — Golfsmith International plans to open its first specialty golf store on New York City’s Fifth Avenue. By positioning its interactive store in the heart of the Big Apple, Golfsmith will reach both New York area golfers as well as tourists visiting the city from around the world.

To mark the store opening, the golf retailer has scheduled a number of activities from Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9, including $50,000 in cash giveaways, golf clinics from instructor Hank Haney and more than $7,500 in prizes.