Consumer Affairs & Relations

Payment Alliance International (PAI), a leading retail ATM solutions company, and OnPoint Community Credit Union have entered into an agreement to brand ATMs at all 72 Rite Aid pharmacies in Oregon.

PAI will own and operate the ATMs, which will be outfitted with OnPoint Community Credit Union’s branding. OnPoint members will have surcharge-free access to cash at Oregon Rite Aid pharmacies beginning July.

Chico's FAS has appointed Todd E. Vogensen as SVP, CFO, replacing Pamela Knous, who has left the company.

Prior to his appointment as CFO, Vogensen had been the company's SVP of finance. He will report to Kent Kleeberger, who himself filled the CFO spot from 2008 to 2011 and is currently EVP, COO.

Washington, D.C. — Walmart, along with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International, on Wednesday joined forces to establish a unique logo for retail packaging of products from women-owned businesses. The new logo will bring consumer recognition of products provided by women-owned businesses on store shelves both in the U.S. and international markets. 

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Price Chopper Supermarkets announced that it has cut about 80 positions, citing a need to improve efficiency within the company amid rising costs, including “skyrocketing” healthcare costs.

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea is planning to raise the hourly minimum wage for employees in its U.S. stores by an average 17%, beginning January 1, 2015. In a move unprecedented among U.S. retailers, Ikea’s wage hike will vary in that it will be based on the cost of living in each store’s location. According to Ikea, the change will take the average minimum hourly wage in its existing U.S. stores (as of June 2014) to $10.76, a $1.59 or 17% increase, and $3.51 above the current federal minimum wage.

David Campisi joined Big Lots a little more than a year ago as president and CEO and with sales and profits gathering momentum the nation’s leading off-price retailer has decided to begin paying a hefty dividend.

The operator of roughly 1,500 stores nationwide said it would begin paying a quarterly dividend of 17 cents a share as part of a more balanced approach to returning cash to shareholders and as a reflection of confidence in the company’s strategy and favorable long-term prospects.

Executive authority suffered a blow this week when the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Pepsi distributor Noel Canning in a dispute over president Barack Obama’s use of an arcane “recess appointments” clause to load the National Labor Relations Board with pro-union choices.

San Jose, Calif. – Researchers at computer security firm Duo Security have discovered a flaw in the two-step method PayPal uses to authenticate account-holders. The flaw involves a temporary security key PayPal users can generate with a personal device as an additional step along with their password for account log-in.

Portland, Ore. - U.S. retail firms are confident in their ability to detect data breaches. According to a recent survey of 154 retailers by security solutions provider Tripwire, when asked how quickly their organizations would detect a breach, 42% of respondents said it would take 48 hours, 18% said it would take 72 hours, and 11% said it would take a week.  

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market Inc. is being fined about $800,000 for charging excessive prices in California. Inspections of Whole Foods and Mrs. Gooch’s stores in the state revealed that the retailer was charging for the weight of salad bar containers, selling prepared foods by the item rather than the pound, and labeling items as heavier than their actual weight.