Consumer Affairs & Relations

Cincinnati – John A. Bryant, chairman, president and CEO of Kellogg Co., has been elected to the Macy’s Inc. board of directors. Bryant, 49, became chairman of the board of Kellogg Co. in July 2014 after serving since January 2011 as president and CEO.

He has been a member of Kellogg’s board of directors since 2010. Prior to becoming CEO, Bryant held a variety of key senior leadership roles, including chief financial officer, president of Kellogg North America, president of Kellogg International and COO.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line Inc. on Friday reported a decline in its fourth-quarter profit and cautioned that profits in its current year may not hit expectations of a fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $40.8 million.

The retailer also authorized a new 5-million-share buyback program.

The Finish Line’s earnings in the fourth quarter fell 5% to $40.8 million.

Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $551.3 million, an increase of 6.3% over the prior year period. Same-store sales increased 2.6%.

In a break from tradition, Walmart is hosting an investor meeting in New York on April 1 with the new team of top executives who are driving the latest round of changes at the retailer’s U.S. business.

A 90 minutes session scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST on April 1 at the New York Stock Exchange will be hosted by Walmart U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran.

Some retailers have had a rough time being successful in Canada, but not Dollarama, where profits, sales and store counts are on the increase.

In fact, customers increased their spending at the Canadian discounter over the fourth quarter, leading to  the chain’s quarterly profit rising about 21%.

Las Vegas -- The boards of directors of A.R.E. (the Association for Retail Environments) and POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) have voted to enter a due diligence phase and work in good faith toward a definitive agreement to merge the two associations.

At their respective board meetings held during GlobalShop in Las Vegas this week, both not-for-profit groups agreed to a preliminary framework that will allow them to better serve their members and advance the industry as a combined organization.

Robert “Bob” Piccinini, the longtime chairman of Save Mart Supermarkets, has died. He was 73.

In a statement, the company said that Bob was most passionate about two things: his family and his company. He purchased Save Mart from the Piccinini and Tocco families in 1985 after working his way up through the ranks as a box boy, truck driver, store manager, vice president of real estate and on to president and CEO.

Dublin, Calif. – The Ross Stores Inc. board of directors has approved a two-for-one stock split on June 11, 2015. The split will be paid in the form of a 100% stock dividend to stockholders of record as of April 22, 2015.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – It probably takes less to satisfy the average consumer than it does to satisfy Mick Jagger, but even still, consumers can’t seem to get any satisfaction these days. According to new data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the national level of customer satisfaction dropped 0.5% to 75.2 in fourth quarter 2014.