Retail

Coralville, Iowa — Pancheros Mexican Grill has announced plans to open 16 new locations in 2014. The fast casual Mexican restaurant rounded out 2014 with eight new location openings and 10 lease signings set for development this year.

Pancheros aims to sustain the expansion across the country with 70 additional restaurant launches over the next five years.

Ingolstadt, Germany -- Media Markt – Saturn Holding Netherlands, the Netherlands subsidiary of German electronics retailer Media Markt, has deployed Pricer ESLs in all 45 stores in the Netherlands. This investment in electronic shelf label (ESL) technology is part of Media Markt – Saturn Holding Netherlands’ omni-channel concept, which is based on an active and flexible pricing policy, and on having matching sales prices at any time in the company's brick-and-mortar stores and its online shops.

Sam's Club has named David Badeen as VP health care. Badeen will be responsible for pharmacy, OTC, optical and hearing centers, as well as third party contracting and pricing. In this new role, he will report directly to Jill Turner-Mitchael, SVP health and wellness.

Minneapolis – Tile Shop Holdings Inc. swung from a net loss to profit during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, but still reported a net loss for the full fiscal year. During the fourth quarter, Tile Shop reported net earnings of $1.4 million compared to a net loss of $35.8 million to the same period a year earlier.

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Dress for Less will open its first store in Oakland, Calif. on March 8, bringing the total to more than 250 stores in California, the retailer’s largest state. The new location will be in Foothill Square in Oakland.  

Together, Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts currently operate approximately 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

New York -- G Asset Management, LLC ("GAM"), a private investment management firm, has made a proposal to acquire 51% of Barnes & Noble Inc., valuing the company at $22 per share, or about $1.3 billion. This is a 10% increase on the $20 per share offer G Asset made for 51% of Barnes & Noble in November 2013.

Lexington, Mass. – Vertical footwear retailer Keds is launching an omni-channel marketing campaign called the “Keds Brave Life Project.” The campaign is aimed at encouraging positive development of girls and young women.

San Francisco – Gap Inc. will raise the minimum hourly wage for all U.S. employees to $9 in 2014, and then raise it again, to $10, in 2015. The move will affect about 65,000 store employees across the company’s brands, which include Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta, and Intermix. Gap's announcement comes amid a nationwide debate about the minimum wage.