Target, Inc.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Wrangler has drafted New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees to endorse its denim brand.

One of the most decorated and respected quarterbacks in the NFL, Brees joins Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brett Favre as brand ambassadors. He will be featured in upcoming marketing campaigns, scheduled to launch in August.

PLANO, Texas — J. C. Penney has promoted Brynn Evanson to EVP of human resources. Evanson will lead all HR functions across stores, supply chain and the home office, including team member relations, recruiting, learning and development, compensation and benefits and talent operations. She will also join the company's executive board, reporting to CEO Myron E. Ullman.

Target may not cater to exactly the same shopper as Walmart, but there is enough overlap between the two companies to know that reports of weakness out of Minneapolis are never a good sign in Bentonville.

Knoxville, Tenn. -- CHM said that its Northshore Town Center mixed-use property will add First Tennessee Bank and ORNL Federal Credit Union to its tenant roster.

The two financial institutions will join fast-casual pizza restaurant Uncle Maddio’s, scheduled to open its first Tennessee location at Northshore Town Center later this spring.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said Tuesday it will miss its first-quarter profit outlook as seasonal and weather-sensitive items underperformed.
 
The retailer also said it now expects same-store sales to be flat in the quarter.

Target’s quarterly results are slated to be reported on May 22.

Softer than expected sales trends prompted Target to lower its first quarter earnings outlook Tuesday morning.

The company said it now expects first quarter comps to be flat, after previously forecasting a range of flat to 2% growth. The softer than expected sales prompted the company to revise first quarter adjusted profit expectations to an unspecified level of "slightly below" earlier guidance of $1.10 to $1.20.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target has accepted for purchase $760.7 million worth of debt as part of a $1.1 billion debt-refinancing plan announced last month, the mass merchandiser said.

The company announced plans in mid-March to purchase up to more than $1.1 billion worth of debt securities and will pay close to the full amount for those accepted for purchase.

The offer to purchase the debt from the people holding it expired Wednesday night at 11:59, the company said.

By Ellis Verdi, president of the NYC advertising agency DeVito/Verdi

Here are the five lessons I learned from the J.C. Penney debacle — unfortunately we knew all of this before Ron took his ideas to market.