Target, Inc.

Minneapolis – Target has won a case against non-profit group Canvass for a Cause in the Superior Court of the State of California, San Diego. Target sought and received the right to prohibit groups or individuals from using its property for expressive activity, as well as a judgment for trespass alleging that Canvass for a Cause and individuals associated with it have come onto Target property without authorization to do so and have refused to leave.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Shopping Center development in Chicagoland has improved significantly in recent years. Activity showed a 98.7% increase in total sq. ft. from 2012 to 1013, according to the “Chicagoland 2014 Shopping Center Report” just issued by Mid-America Real Estate Corp.

In 2013, owners developed approximately 2.26 million sq. ft., compared to 1.14 million sq. ft. in 2012.

Target plans to carry on its Canadian expansion this year with nine additional stores, the majority of which will open in Ontario, although the retailer plans to open single stores in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and B.C.

New York -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association elected Richard Dreiling, chairman and CEO of Dollar General, as the new chairman of its board of directors.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as board chairman for RILA and to work with this exceptional group of retail leaders to strengthen our industry,” said Dreiling. “RILA is a critical strategic partner in empowering our industry to speak with one voice to champion issues that affect the retail sector, our workforce and our valued customers.”

In recent years, customer engagement has become much more of a mission-critical function for retailers. While nobody would argue that retailers must engage their customers in a way that recognizes the disruptive effects of leading-edge technologies like social and mobile, there is a priority that looms even larger. Namely, data security.

Insecure Data Creates Insecure Customers

Dollar General chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling was elected chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) to fill a position held the past two years by Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.

Dreiling’s appointment was announced at RILA’s semi-annual board of directors meeting held Sunday in Naples, Fla. Steinhafel will continue to serve as a member of organization’s executive committee.

Hudson's Bay Company has appointed Douglas Scovanner as EVP of finance and accounting, on an interim basis. Scovanner will support acting CFO with the day-to-day stewardship of the company’s financial planning, asset protection and accounting functions.

Prior to this appointment, Scovanner spent nearly two decades at Target, most recently as EVP and CFO.

Target and international pop star Shakira are teaming up to release an exclusive deluxe edition of her latest album, “Shakira.” It’s Target’s first major artist collaboration of the year.

The exclusive deluxe edition will include three bonus tracks and is available for pre-order now at Target.com.

“There were three special songs I recorded for ‘Shakira’ that I decided to save for the version of the album available only at Target,” explained Shakira.

Revelations of job cuts at leading retailers, the latest involving Sam’s Club, are a reminder that pro-active expense control remains retailers' best friend when it comes to ensuring profitability when faced with a murky outlook for consumer spending.

Sam’s Club on Friday became the latest retailer to disclose plans to eliminate 2,300 hourly and middle management positions. The move was characterized as a rebalancing of resources, according to Sam’s Club spokesman Bill Durling. Other retailers such as Macy’s and Target also recently announced job cuts.

Michaels may have been the victim of an attack on its data, but it wasn’t going to wait to find out the way Target and Neiman Marcus did before warning customers.

In a statement laced with the word, “may,” Michaels said it recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at its stores, which it said suggested the company may have experienced a data security attack.