Consumer Affairs & Relations

An Amazon.com executive is publicly disputing an August 2015New York Timesarticle that painted an unflattering picture of the retailer’s corporate culture.

The three-year investigation into allegations of misconduct and corruption at Wal-Mart’s operations in Mexico has found few major offenses, Reuters reported.

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Staples is limiting the severance pay of top executives as the resolution of a deal with Office Depot draws near.

Staples announced that its board of directors has adopted a new policy stipulating that the company will not pay any severance benefits that exceed three times the sum of an executive’s base salary plus target annual cash incentive award, without seeking shareholder approval.

In addition, CEO Ron Sargent has elected to amend his severance agreement to align with the terms of the new policy.

The Retail Design Institute, the oldest and largest association for design professionals, and Chain Store Age, the leading authority on retail operations and producer of the annual SPECS conference, are partnering on the Institute’s 45th Annual International Store Design Competition.

A key Under Armour executive is stepping down.

Under Armour announced that its COO and CFO, Brad Dickerson, is leaving the company to pursue an unnamed opportunity outside of the athletic performance industry.

A new report from Nielsen offers concrete evidence that brands really can do well by doing good.

A landmark global report from Nielsen show that brands that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability grow faster than those that don’t. According to the 2015 Nielsen Global Corporate Sustainability Report, in the past year, sales of consumer goods from brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability have grown more than 4% globally, while those without grew less than 1%.

 Rite Aid on Tuesday announced that The Rite Aid Foundation is making a $25,000 donation to the Palmetto South Carolina Region chapter of the American Red Cross to help the victims, families and communities affected by last week’s severe flooding. 

Food Lion has come up with an artistic way to connect with the communities it serves and feed the hungry at the same time.

The retailer is inviting kids ages 5-14 to participate in its Food Lion Feeds "Summers Without Hunger" Design-a-Reusable-Bag Contest. The winning design will be featured on next year's Food Lion Feeds reusable bag, which will be sold in more than 1,100 stores in June. The campaign is anticipated to help provide another 1 million meals to families and children in need. 

Dollar General is rightsizing its expense structure by eliminating several hundred positions at its home office.

Dollar General said that effective immediately it had eliminated 255 positions but noted that 115 of those positions were vacant. The move follows an announcement the previous week by Walmart to eliminate 450 positions at its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. Dollar General said the move was part of a broader initiative aimed at proactively improving efficiencies and reducing expenses by restructuring its corporate support functions.

Staples and Office Depot have agreed to a Federal Trade Commission decision to extend the review period for a possible $6.3 billion merger of the two companies.

The companies announced Monday that the FTC has agreed to issue its decision regarding this transaction by Dec. 8.