Microsoft

Thanks to homeowners who are sitting on their houses and Millennials who are starting to buy some, Home Depot CEO Craig Menear sees a rosy revenue picture ahead for home centers. 

Expressing a desire to deliver more professional services and back-end support to its wholesale customers, Supervalu announced that it would install Oracle Cloud as its new technology platform.   "The Oracle Cloud provides us with a more robust infrastructure and a comprehensive solution that we believe will help us drive increased efficiencies, speed decision-making, and enhance the overall customer experience,” said executive VP and CIO Randy Burdick.  

Top Walmart executive Michelle Gloeckler, who landed 38th on Fortune’s list of most powerful women last year, will leave Bentonville to take over as executive VP and chief merchandising officer at Academy Sports + Outdoors.  

Credit card fraud is down by more than 60% at Mastercard’s top five EMV-enabled merchants since chip cards were introduced late last year, according to the company.   “Mastercard has helped over 150 countries adopt EMV and, time and again, we’ve seen the same result — significant reductions in counterfeit card fraud,” said Chiro Aikat, Mastercard’s senior VP of EMV product delivery.  

Clicks-to-bricks phenomenon Bonobos’ retail journey will soon extend to Manhattan’s Madison Avenue. The company has signed a 10-year lease for 1,725 sq. ft. on the ground floor of 488 Madison Avenue near St. Patrick’s Cathedral.   Neighbors of Bonobos at its new location include Saks Fifth Avenue, Tourneau, Burberry, and Nordstrom’s Trunk Club. The Feil Organization recently completed major renovations on the building, including a two-story glass curtain wall in the office lobby.  

Leasing has begun on HELM Miami, a mixed-use development destined for a full city block in Miami’s Design District, a neighborhood carved out in an under-developed area north of downtown near Biscayne Bay.   Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Retail will handle leasing, led by executive managing director Thomas Citron and executive VP Mitchell Friedel.  

Phillips Edison & Company announced the appointment of Beth Farrell Donnelly as VP and assistant general counsel. She will work with senior VP and General Counsel Tanya Brady to provide legal advice on all aspects of the company’s business.  

The Mid-America Real Estate Group announced the hiring of Ashlee Yenney as its corporate marketing director. She will be responsible for marketing and public relations efforts across company offices in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.  

Simon Property Group reported a 5% drop in net income to $527 million for the second quarter, yet declared positive results based on other measures. Total portfolio net operating income, which tracks comparable property and new property growth, grew 7.4% over second quarter 2015 and growth in comparable funds from operations rose 9.1%.   The Simon board declared a 6.5% increase in its stock dividend for the quarter and raised its guidance for full-year 2016 net income to be within a range of $6.04 to $6.12 per diluted share.

While a new report from CBRE extols the traffic-building virtues of Pokemon GO for retail locations designated as “gyms” or “stops,” it concludes that virtual and augmented reality will have a more immediate impact on lease-signings than product purchases.