Associations

Arlington, Va. -- The Food Marketing Institute said Tuesday that it has appointed Robert Rosado as director of government relations.

According to FMI, Rosado will focus on legislation that impacts supermarkets in the areas of food safety, health care, food deserts and the 2012 Farm Bill.

Paris -- French retail giant Carrefour SA reported Thursday that sales in its fiscal first quarter inched up 3.9% to $35.7 billion.

Stronger showings in Brazil and China helped the retailer counteract weaker performance in Western Europe.

Carrefour's sales figures come ahead of a key shareholder vote in June on the company's plans to spin off its discount chain Dia and some European property assets into separately listed companies.

PHILADELPHIA  -- Elaine Rubin, a retail industry vet who co-founded and chaired Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, is taking her expertise in Internet retailing to Monetate, a leading independent provider of testing, targeting, and personalization for websites. Rubin joins Monetate as a member of the company's strategic advisory board.  

BENTON HARBOR, Mich.  -- Whirlpool announced that its EVP global product organization, David Szczupak, will be speaking at the fourth Energy Efficiency Global Forum (EE Global) in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. CEST. His presentation will be a part of the opening plenary session and is titled, "Appliances...the Friendly Face of the Smart Grid."

Washington, D.C. -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to be up 9% in April over the same month last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Monday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

WASHINGTON -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to be up 9% in April over the same month last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the National Retail Federation and conducted by BIGresearch found that spending on food, gifts and apparel is expected to increase this Easter.

According to NRF’s 2011 Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, the average consumer is expected to spend $131.04 on everything from candy to clothes -- up from last year’s $118.60, but still not quite meeting pre-recession spending levels.

Total spending on Easter-related merchandise is expected to reach $14.6 billion.

Salem, Ore. -- Anthropologie and the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance (CFCA) announced a joint initiative in all 153 Anthropologie stores in the United States and United Kingdom to increase awareness and promote the preservation of Mediterranean cork forests, one of the planet’s most important ecosystems.