Awards

Oak Brook, Ill. -- The Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. has been named the recipient of the 2014 Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the Better Business Bureau.

The award was presented at the 17th Annual BBB Awards Luncheon Ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel in Rosemont, Ill.  

This is the second Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics that Inland has received from the BBB. The company was presented with its first Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in 2009. Last year’s winner was The Boeing Co.

New York – Give your project the recognition it deserves — enter Chain Store Age’s 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year design competition. The entry deadline is December 23, 2013.

More than 20 competition categories are featured, including department stores, supermarkets, discounters, restaurants, convenience stores, specialty stores, service, sustainability and pop-up stores. This year, for the first time, the competition also includes the category of in-store digital innovation.

CommonKindness president and co-founder Sarah Schloemer has been named the winner of a Silver Stevie Award in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category in the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world’s top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run. All individuals and organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations: public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, large and small. The 2013 awards received entries from 18 nations and territories.

Pedigree and the Broadway musical "Annie" worked together to promote awareness of dog adoption, and the partnership resulted in a $1 million donation to Pedigree Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping dogs find loving homes. A check was presented to the foundation after the matinee performance on Nov. 20.

Since its debut in 1977, "Annie" has featured a real-life shelter dog as Annie's companion Sandy, making the partnership between Pedigree brand and the Tony Award-winning musical even more special.

New York — The early bird rate for Chain Store Age's 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year design competition ends on Nov. 29. Retailers, design firms, architects and suppliers are invited to submit entries for the competition, whose regular deadline for submission is December 23, 2013.

Suffern, N.Y. -- David Jaffe, president and CEO of Ascena Retail Group, has been named the National EY (Ernst & Young) Entrepreneur of the Year Family Business Award of Excellence winner, recognized for building a company with multiple retail brands.

Kroger announced its succession plan for secretary and general counsel. Paul Heldman, 62, a 31-year Kroger veteran who has been serving as the company's general counsel since 1989, secretary since 1992 and EVP since 2006, plans to retire in spring of 2014.

Chairman of Sheetz Convenience Restaurants, Stan Sheetz, has been inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments in the convenience retail industry. The reception and dinner was recently held at the Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pa.

Sheetz received honors for his contributions to U.S. and international business, and his transformation of the company founded by his father Bob Sheetz, from a convenience store into a chain of more than 460 "convenience restaurants."