Consumer Affairs & Relations

Weis Markets Inc. is losing one of its longest serving executives after the company announced that the chairman of the board is stepping down.

Robert F. Weis will not stand for re-election to its board of directors at the company's annual meeting of shareholders on April 23, the company said.

"We are deeply indebted to Robert for his 69 years of leadership and tireless dedication to our company," said Harold G. Graber, Jr., a director and secretary of the company.

Retailers and consumer goods companies already know that California leads the nation when it comes to burdensome regulatory requirements. Now, the situation could go from bad to worse with enforcement looming of a complex law known as the Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

Goleta, Calif. – Deckers Brands has appointed Wendy Yang as Teva brand president, effective May 1. In this role, Yang will design and lead Teva's global brand strategy and report directly to Dave Powers, president of Deckers Brands.  

A 38-year Kroger employee who started out in the company bagging groceries at a Cincinnati area store has been promoted to president.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. announced that Marlene Stewart has been promoted to president of the company's Dillons division. She replaces Joe Grieshaber, who was recently named president of Kroger's Columbus division.

Stewart, 59, currently serves as VP of merchandising at QFC, based in Seattle.

City of Commerce, Calif. – 99 Cents Only Stores is opening nine new stores in California between April 9 and April 11. The stores will be located in the communities of San Luis Obispo, Ontario, Sonora, Santee, Escondido, Tustin, San Bernardino, Cypress and South El Monte.

99 Cents Only currently operates 384 stores located in California, Texas, Arizona & Nevada.
 

Seattle – A seller of posters on Amazon.com has reportedly pled guilty to antitrust charges from the U.S. Justice Department. According to Reuters, David Topkins of San Francisco conspired to manipulate the price of posters on Amazon Marketplace between September 2013 and January 2014.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. is extending its college tuition assistance plan for workers to cover the entire cost of getting an online bachelor's degree. The coffee giant launched the program with Arizona State University in June 2014. At the time, it was limited to juniors and seniors looking to complete their degrees. But in a major expansion of the benefit, Starbucks said it will now cover the full cost of the four-year online degree.

We are or should be familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (“ADA”) requirements for accommodating the physically disabled. Wheelchair ramps, handicap stalls, handicap parking, lifts, and other items designed to assist the physically disabled are commonplace. However, the ADA is much broader than this, and the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the courts are focusing on making the internet more accessible for the visually impaired.

Lexmark’s evolution into a business information services giant got a boost Tuesday when the company unveiled a rebranding.

The company announced that its Perceptive Software division will switch to the Lexmark name, although its products will remain under the Perceptive banner. The move brings all of Lexmark's recent worldwide acquisitions of business information and software companies under the company's one name.