Consumer Affairs & Relations

The importance of expense control at Walmart became evident on Friday when the retailer confirmed it planned to eliminate 450 positions as part of a broader restructuring effort.

Supervalu announced that president and CEO Sam Duncan will retire at the end of the company’s fiscal year. The company also elevated two other executives to key senior leadership roles and affirmed its commitment to exploring strategic alternatives for the Save-A-Lot retail division.

The $18 billion grocery wholesaler and retailer said Duncan would remain with the company until February 29, 2016. He joined the company in February 2013 in connection with the sale by Supervalu of five retail banners to Albertsons.

Low-price grocery chain Aldi is making some changes to the ingredients of its food products just days after Target announced it was banning various chemicals from the products it sells.

Aldi announced it has removed certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and MSG from all of its exclusive brand food products.

The move by Aldi (and Target) comes as traditional and even upscale grocers are struggling to increase sales as shoppers increasingly turn to more discounters.

The highly anticipated EMV deadline of Oct. 1 has come and gone, leaving many retailers and payment solutions providers to ponder what’s next? As of Oct. 1, 2015, any U.S. retailer that does not have the necessary POS hardware, software, and operational and network protocols in place to process an EMV-compliant chip card transaction faces a shift in fraud liability.

Rite Aid on Wednesday brought back its nationwide annual Vote for Your Favorite Pharmacy Team Member Contest to celebrate American Pharmacist Month. Through the contest, Rite Aid customers have a chance to win $2,500 in Rite Aid gift cards by nominating a favorite member of their Rite Aid pharmacy team.

Chico’s is looking to a veteran of Victoria’s Secret to help the company navigate some troubling times. The company announced that Cynthia A. Fields has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. Fields was also appointed to the board's merchant committee.

Chico’s is looking to a veteran of Victoria’s Secret to help the company navigate some troubling times.

The company announced that Cynthia A. Fields has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. Fields was also appointed to the board's merchant committee.

Despite all the commotion surrounding the Oct. 1 deadline for U.S. retailers to accept EMV-compliant payment cards, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects no drastic shifts to occur.

After a new donation pledge from Publix Super Markets, the international nonprofit Habitat for Humanity will be able to build 40 new houses in 2016 in the Southeast, where Publix serves all of its customers.

The $4 million donation, announced Monday, will go to more than 80 different Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Michael Rouleau was never seen as a long-term leadership solution as Tuesday Morning’s CEO, but the veteran retailer’s abrupt departure with no immediate successor named reveals the off-price retailer lacked a succession plan.

The company said Rouleau, 77, will remain in a consultative capacity until March 31, 2016 and that it had created a new Office of the Chairman led by current Board Chairman Steven Becker to support oversight of the company’s strategic initiatives until a new CEO can be hired.