Events

LAS VEGAS — Pacific Entertainment, creators of the Baby Genius brand of musical edu-tainment for infants and toddlers, announced that Alfred Kahn will join the company as an exclusive consultant in the children's preschool and education markets. 

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores is ramping up the opening of its mid-sized Neighborhood Market format, which is being renamed Walmart Market, said  Bill Simon, president and CEO, Walmart U.S., on Wednesday at the William Blair & Co. Growth Stock Conference in Chicago.

The Market stores, which average around 42,000 sq. ft., are delivering returns on the same level as supercenters, Simon said, and can be approved and built in less time.

Washington, D.C. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association, the International Council of Shopping Centers and Paladino and Co., announced Tuesday a collaborative discussion among retailers and commercial shopping center developers to bridge the current landlord and tenant divide that exists around creating sustainable, energy-efficient retail stores in the United States.

Participants in the June 9 roundtable included Wal-Mart, Petco, Ann Taylor, Target, VF Corp., Best Buy, Westfield, Vornado and Kimco, among others.

LAS VEGAS — Nickelodeon is launching the first products themed after one of its live-action comedy series exclusively at Walmart.

U.S. and Canada Walmart stores will carry the more than 250 products based on the show "Victorious," including apparel, accessories, entertainment and school supplies. Most stores will begin carrying the items in July through the back-to-school shopping season.

New York City -- Chain Store Age will hold a Webinar on Tuesday, June 14, at 2 p.m., ET (11 am PT) on how Best Buy has streamlined its business with the help of a master data management solution from IBM. Register today and take a chance to win a free iPad.

Learn from Best Buy how the company has realized several advantages, including ensuring that data is accurate and consistent across all selling channels and improved the customer experience across the same, by deploying the IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management (MDM) solution.

All board members were re-elected by an overwhelmingly large margin, however some shareholders expressed a dislike for Anne Mulcahy as she drew the largest number of negative votes by a wide margin.

Mulcahy is probably best known as CEO of Xerox from 2001 to 2009, and she also served as chairman of the company’s board from 2002 to 2010. She currently chairs the board of trustees of the Save The Children Foundation and serves as a director of The Washington Post Company and Johnson & Johnson. She is a past director of Citigroup.

Seattle -- REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) will open a store in Indianapolis, Ind. at the Plaza at Castleton next spring.

The approximately 23,800-sq.-ft, store will be the outdoor goods and apparel retailer’s first location in Indiana, and will include a bike shop for quick assemblies and repairs, a seasonal gear rental department, and a community space that will allow REI and its local partners to host classes, presentations and events to educate customers and members on a variety of outdoor topics.

They are however interested in which political candidates and trade associations receive political donations from the company and what the decision-making process is behind those donations. At least it’s what anyone who attended or listened to a webcast of the company’s shareholders’ meeting last week is left to conclude after listening to the line of questioning that followed prepared remarks by Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.