Department Store

Activist investor and hedge fund executive Bill Ackman has accomplished at J.C. Penney what he was unable to do at Target. He secured a seat on the department store retailer’s board after purchasing a bunch of shares and will now be able to push for strategies to increase shareholder value. Joining Ackman on the J.C. Penney board is another large shareholder, Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust.

Online sales soared to new heights this past holiday season even though major retailers had a tough time attracting traffic during December. For example, Target.com during December had 37.3 million unique visitors which sounds like a lot and was enough to earn it the 30th ranking on comScore’s top 50 Web properties report released this week.

SANDPOINT, Idaho – Coldwater Creek has named a new president and chief merchandising officer.

Jill Brown Dean will replace Georgia Shonk Simmons, who announced her intention to retire.

Dean, who most recently served as president of Limited Too's tween brands division, will join the apparel brand on Feb. 14.

In related news, Jerome Jessup, currently EVP, creative director at the brand, was promoted to president and chief creative officer.

HOUSTON  -- The Men's Wearhouse announced that Grace Nichols has been elected to the company's board of directors, effective January 30, increasing the number of directors to nine.

ATLANTA -- First Data Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Kohl’s Department Stores to provide payment processing services for the company’s private brand credit card accounts.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced that Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart stores, and Steven Preston, president and CEO of OakLeaf Waste Management were named to the RILA board of directors, following the board’s semi-annual board of directors meeting held Sunday in Sarasota, Fla.

Simon replaces Walmart vice chairman and president and CEO of global e-commerce and global sourcing Eduardo Castro-Wright.

Conventional wisdom seems to be that Target will be as successful in Canada as it has been in the United States, following last week’s bombshell announcement that the company would enter the market via an acquisition. Target said it would acquire leasehold interests in 220 Zellers stores from the Hudson’s Bay Company, and during 2013 and 2014 it would open between 100 and 150 of the locations as Target stores.

Between announcing its first international acquisition and disclosing details of its U.S. expansion program, the Target board found time to squeeze in authorization of a quarterly dividend payment. The company’s dividend is currently 25 cents a share and is payable on March 10 to shareholders of record on Feb. 16. The first quarter dividend will be the company’s 174th consecutive dividend paid since October 1967 when the company became publicly held.