Financial/Banking

The Children’s Place has appointed an expert in financial auditing to its board.

The compay said John E. (“Jeb”) Bachman has been named to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. Bachman will serve as an independent Class I Director and will stand for election at the 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Bachman will serve on the audit committee.

Following a record performance in 2015, Foot Locker has become the newest member of the S&P 500 index, which bodes well for the performance of the company’s share price.

After the close of trading on Friday, April 1, Foot Locker will replace oil and gas equipment services provider Cameron International as the newest constituent in the S&P 500 index, according to a statement by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a part of McGraw Hill Financial. A spot on the S&P 500 index opened up after Cameron was acquired by Schlumberger Ltd.

Brunswick, Ga. -- Winick Realty Group’s Investment Sales Department announced the sale of the 75,595 sq. ft., grocery-anchored center Brunswick West Shopping Center in Brunswick, Georgia. The center sits on 9.11 acres, off exit 36B of Interstate 95.

Brunswick Shopping Center is currently 82% occupied and anchored by Winn Dixie and Family Dollar.

The National Retail Federation is pressing for a further reduction in per transaction fee banks charge retailers when customers use debit cards five years after the Federal Reserve cut the fee in half.

In a letter the National Retail Federation sent to the Federal Reserve the trade group said the cap on debit card swipe fees enacted by the Federal Reserve five years ago has helped reduce costs for retailers and consumers but is still higher than intended by Congress and should be lowered.

Dollar General will break its own record for store expansion in 2017. And that’s saying a lot.

The discounter is already in high gear, with plans to open a record 900 stores and remodel or relocate about 875 existing locations in 2016. But it’s upping the total for 2017, forecasting some 1,000 new stores and 900 remodels or relocations, which is in line with its model of 6% to 8% square footage growth.

Cincinnati -- Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II and TPG Real Estate announced the formation of a partnership to acquire high-quality, value-added grocery-anchored shopping centers throughout the United States. The Partnership will invest up to $250 million of equity and plans to leverage this capital to achieve a $750 million acquisition target.

Starbucks Corp. is extending its payment platform to extend its reward program beyond its own stores.

The coffee giant announced at its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday that it will launch the Starbucks Rewards Prepaid Card from Chase by the end of this year.

Apple Pay may finally be getting ready to move beyond mobile apps into the world of mobile browsers. According to Re/Code, Apple has been quietly notifying potential partners that the mobile payment service will be available via the Safari browser on iPhones and iPads that are equipped with Apple’s TouchID fingerprint technology, before the 2016 holiday season. This would directly compete with a similar browser-based mobile payment service offered by PayPal.