News

NEW YORK — EyeLock Inc., a leading provider of iris-based identity authentication products and technology, has appointed Michael Fiorito as VP of enterprise accounts.

In this role, Fiorito will be responsible for managing all enterprise accounts and helping spearhead business development efforts which will expand EyeLock's footprint in the United States.

New York -- J. C. Penney disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday that it entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square and its affiliates that gives him an out to completely walk away from the company. Under the deal, Ackman can make up to four requests to Penney to register the sale of his restricted common stock.

"It is paving the way for (Pershing Square) to sell the stock if they choose to do so," Imperial Capital analyst Mary Ross Gilbert said in a Reuters report.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Von Maur has partnered with Brooks Brothers to sell the brand in its stores, making the retailer the second department store in the nation to carry the exclusive line.

The Brooks Brothers line will be available in six stores in fall 2013, and will expand to 13 in spring 2014.

New York -- Consumer confidence unexpectedly dropped in August from a six-year high as Americans faced rising interest rates, according to the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters preliminary index of consumer sentiment.

The index fell to 80.0 from 85.1 in July, which was the highest since July 2007. The median projection of 68 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for little change at 85.2.

The outlook component fell to 72.9 in August from 76.5 in July, while current conditions dropped to 91.0 in August from 98.6 in July.

Yesterday’s release of disappointing sales and profits at Walmart was hardly unexpected, but it heightened concerns about the health of the consumer and sparked a broader market sell-off.

New York -- Walmart is expanding its omni-channel integration by testing the use of lockers to fill online orders, company officials said during the chain’s second-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

“While this test is still in the early stages, the initial read on customer satisfaction and acceptance is very encouraging, with 90% of the customers who have used the service providing positive feedback,” Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said during the call.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — United Stationers has announced that SVP and CFO Fareed Khan has decided to leave the company to accept a position with another firm.  

I think it’s exciting to watch retail going back downtown.
 
I remember shopping in big downtown department stores years ago, and I remember when the big retailers began their exodus to suburban malls leaving huge, sad-looking buildings behind.
 
But retail, as they say, follows rooftops, and the rooftops were springing up in suburbia and then further out in edge communities. Today, we all have a number of friends and acquaintances that commute for an hour or more in each direction every day.