Personnel Updates:
Books-A-Million has appointed Tyler Novak as General Counsel.
Family Dollar Stores announced that it has named Trey Johnson to the newly created position of Senior VP– Food.
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. announced that it has named Michael K. Bloom to the position of President and COO and promoted Dorlisa K. Flur to the position of Vice Chair, Strategy and Chief Administrative Officer.  These appointments follow the announced retirement of R. James Kelly as Family Dollar’s President and COO after 15 years with the Company.
Gordman’s  announced that Andy Lundquist has joined the retailer as VP Stores.
Kmart confirmed that Mark Snyder, Chief Marketing Officer, and Terry Brophey, VP Integrated Marketing Communications, have left the company.
Office Depot announced that Charlie Brown, President, International Division, has left the company.  The Europe and Asiabusiness divisions will now report to Neil Austrian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Office Depot.  Latin American operations including the Mexican joint venture will be looked after by Mike Newman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Office Depot.
Target announced that Michael Francis, now former Chief Marketing Officer and the person the company put in charge of entering the Canadian market, has left the company.   J.C. Penney has hired Mr. Francis as President.  He will be responsible for marketing, merchandising, planning and allocation, product development and sourcing at Penney.
Walmart announced that Anthony T. Hucker will join the Giant Landover Division of Ahold USA as Division President.  Hucker most recently served as Corporate VP, Head of Walmart Express Division.
Walmart’s Exec VP of Global eCommerce for Emerging Markets Wan Ling Martello, has left the company to become Nestle SA’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Wal-Mart Stores announced the appointment of David Cheesewright as Exec VP, President and CEO of a new international regional management team. In this newly created role, he will lead Walmart’s retail operations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa, and will oversee business development in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada.
Wal-Mart Stores announced that Shelley Broader has been promoted to the position of President and CEO of Walmart Canada.  Broader will be tasked with addressing new competition from Target and other retailers expanding into Canada.
Broader is succeeding David Cheesewright, who is taking on the newly created role of Exec VP, President and CEO of a new regional management team that will oversee Walmart’s retail operations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa, and business development in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada.
Financial Focus:
AutoZone, Inc. announced that for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011, sales were $8.1 billion, an increase of 9.6% from the prior year.
Costco Wholesale Corporation announced its operating results for the 52 weeks (fiscal year) ended August 28, 2011.  Net sales for the 52-week fiscal year 2011 were $87.05 billion, an increase of 14 percent from $76.25 billion last year.
Family Dollar Stores, Inc. reported record sales and earnings results for the year ended August 27, 2011. Net sales for fiscal 2011 increased 8.7% to $8.548 billion compared to $7.867 billion in fiscal 2010.
Mergers and Acquisitions:
99 Cents Only Stores has agreed to be acquired by a group of investors including its founding family, Ares Management and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board for $1.6 billion in cash.  The announcement ends a months-long sales process, which started with a takeover offer from Leonard Green & Partners in March.  The Gold/Schiffer family, which founded the company almost 30 years ago, will roll over its 33% stake into the newly private company. The family members and other existing management will stay on to run the company.
Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partnerscompleted their $2.8 billion acquisition of BJ’s Wholesale Club. The move takes the chain private.

Sur La Table has been acquired by Bahrain-based Investcorp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the company plans to keep current management in place.

Industry Insight:
BJ’s Wholesale Club confirmed that Private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners have completed their $2.8 billion acquisition of BJ’s.. BJ’s agreed to the buyout in June.   BJ’s is now a private company.
Bed Bath & Beyond sees an opportunity to operate in excess of 1,300 Bed Bath & Beyond stores, as well as grow its Christmas Tree Shops and buybuy Baby concepts nationwide. Additionally, it will continue to open Harmon Face Values stores.  Including the 24 stores it has opened to date, it anticipates opening a total of about 40 stores across all its concepts in fiscal 2011.
Family Dollar Stores announced that it plans to open 450 to 500 new stores in fiscal 2012, a 50% jump compared with the number of openings in fiscal 2011 which had doubled the amount opened during fiscal 2 2010, and will renovate, relocate or expand over 1,000 locations.
Office Depot opened its first store in the Dominican Republic and is planning three additional Dominican Republic stores scheduled to open in 2012. In addition to its operations in various Central American countries and Puerto Rico, Office Depot plans to further expand its business throughout the Caribbean.
Real Estate:
hhgregg has announced the opening of 14 stores in Chicago. Chicago will be the company’s largest market.  To support the new stores, the retailer has hired 700 residents for sales associates, warehouse staff, and customer service representatives.
Out of the 14 stores, 13 will open in Illinoiscommunities and one in Merrilville, Indiana.
Illinois: Gurnee, Vernon Hills, Geneva, Schaumburg, Lombard, Bloomingdale, Arlington Heights, Joliet, Naperville, Orland Park, Niles, Crystal Lake, and Norridge
Indiana: Merrillville
T-Mobile USA announced the rollout of a new global design for nearly 400 new and remodeled stores across the country. The move follows successful test pilots in Tukwila, Wash., and in New York City at Seventh Ave. and 48th St.,
T-Mobile said it adopted the new design format from its parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, which has received positive customer feedback for this new design in retail stores across Europe.
Each redesigned store will be completely new from floor to ceiling, and will feature a more customer-centric layout, including private customer service desks and clearly defined product areas.
Other new design features include hardwood flooring, large digital messaging screen at the rear of the store, and vertical highlight panels installed with information kiosks and video monitors.
Customers also will have several service options, from standing service counters on the sales floor for quick transactions to seated service desks for long transactions, discreet conversations and business-to-business consultations. With this new format, customer wait times are expected to be reduced.
T-Mobile said it is opening or remodeling stores in approximately 65 markets across the country, led by openings in Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Green Initiatives:
Best Buy will test sales of thermostats, energy usage monitors and other home energy management products and services at stores in Chicago, Houston and San Francisco starting next month, the result of an energy sustainability program launched three years ago.
Walmart has announced its plan to install solar panels on up to 60 additional stores in California, expanding the company’s solar portfolio to more than 75 percent of its stores in the state, making Californiathe first state in the nation where Walmart has devoted this level of commitment to renewable energy.
When complete, Walmart says, its total solar commitment in California is expected to generate up to 70 million kilowatt hours of clean, renewable energy per year, which is the equivalent of powering more than 5,400 homes.  It will also avoid producing more than 21,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, which is the equivalent of taking approximately 4,100 cars off the road and provide 20 to 30 percent of each facility’s total electric needs.
Walmart announced that it has been selected as one of the WashingtonGreen 50 list by Seattle Business Magazine as part of its annual Green Washington Awards competition. Walmart was a finalist in the retail category.
The Green Washington Awards program identifies and honors companies that are demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to making their business sustainable, according to a press release. Walmart was honored for its improved fleet efficiency by 65%; recycling more than 31,000 tons of materials last year in Washington; and commitment to sell more green products to customers — 52% of products have had a 25% reduction in energy consumption.