White House Black Market (WHBM)

Under the auspices of ensuring digital opportunity for all Americans, Best Buy has aligned itself with President Barack Obama and several service providers on wide-ranging initiative to improve high speed Internet access.

The program, called ConnectHome, was unveiled by the president on July 15 during a visit to Durant, Okla., and involves 275,000 households with nearly 200,000 children in 27 cities.

Cincinnati -- The highly publicized mixed-use project Liberty Center, in Cincinnati, Ohio, has just announced its first slate of retail tenants.  

With a scheduled October 2015 opening, Liberty Center includes more than 800,000 sq. ft. of retail, restaurants and entertainment, including a 200,000-sq.-ft. Dillard’s anchor that will be the state of Ohio’s first ground-up Dillard’s store.

This year, GGP and The Lego Group partnered to host The Lego Americana Roadshow, a highly visual, educational and free traveling installation of larger-than-life Lego replicas of some of the nation’s most beloved landmarks.  

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is publicly supporting legislation that would amend the federal Taft-Hartley Act to allow governors to intervene in port labor disputes rather than being required to ask the White House to do so.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy’s five-year-long initiative to reduce its carbon footprint by at least 20% by 2020 was commended by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at White House ceremonies in Washington, D.C. The reduction is part of Best Buy’s organization-wide effort to address climate change.
 

Chico's FAS Inc. is blaming its first quarter profit decline on restructuring charges and lower sales.

Chicago -- Tucker Development, in joint venture with Hutensky Capital Partners, announced the $57.25 million acquisition of Town Square Wheaton (TSW), a 200,000-sq.-ft. shopping, dining and office destination located in Wheaton, Illinois.
 

Atlanta -- Sandwich operator Arby's Restaurant Group recorded systemwide same-store sales growth in first quarter 9.8%, marking 18 consecutive quarters of comp growth and indicating progress toward the quick-serve chain’s goal to surpass $4 billion in system-wide total sales by the end of 2018.