Nike, Inc.

Hamilton, Bermuda – Signet Jewelers Ltd. has named Daniel Shull as its first CIO effective Jan. 5, 2015. As CIO, Shull will be responsible for Signet's IT systems across its three divisions.

New York --  Chinese E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings sold about $2 billion worth of goods on its websites within approximately the first hour of its annual shopping extravaganza.    This is the sixth year Alibaba has celebrated Singles Day, or 11.11 (named after the date, 11/11), a 24-hour deep-discount festival designed to boost sales during an otherwise weak period in China's sales calendar.   

Academy Sports and Outdoors' 186 locations won’t be open Thanksgiving Day, but the retailer does have other operational and promotional strategies planned including a 5 a.m.Black Friday opening.

The $4 billion retailer said it was continuing its longstanding practice of not opening on Thanksgiving Day. Instead, leading up to Thanksgiving Academy plans to provide customers access to shop its Black Friday deals early through three major sales events – Early Access, Black Friday Starts Now, and Black Friday.

It has been fascinating to watch the back and forth in recent weeks as competing systems for mobile payment have suddenly been grabbing headlines and jockeying for space in the public consciousness.  

Englewood, Colo. -- Sports Authority will host grand opening events for its new and improved stores in the Las Vegas area on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 8 a.m.  

Westport, Conn. -- Charter Realty & Development said that it has leased space in Parker Harding Plaza in Westport, Conn., to The Shade Store. The Shade Store took 1,600 sq. ft., joining area tenants Patagonia, Nike, J Crew, GAP, Vineyard Vines, Pottery Barn, Coach, Talbots, Williams-Sonoma, Brooks Brothers, Sunglass Hut, Starbucks and many more.    

Austin, Texas -- A majority of Americans would be comfortable divulging information about themselves anonymously to their favorite stores (60%) or a product brand (56%), and close to half would anonymously share personal data to an app (46%). According to a new national survey from Wearables.com and The Center for Generational Kinetics, some consumers will also share personal information in exchange for certain benefits.  

Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple announced that its mobile payments solution, Apple Pay, will be launched in the United States on Monday, October 20. CEO Tim Cook made the announcement Thursday at a media event at which he unveiled several new products, including updated versions of the iPad.