Consumer Affairs & Relations

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. is offering to pay cash consent fees to holders of three series of senior notes due in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Note holders who accept the fees would release Safeway of the obligation to repurchase the notes at 1% interest when its expected fourth quarter merger with Albertson’s LLC occurs.

New York – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Friday closed its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange with its shares up 38% from its I.P.O., closing at $93.89.

The stock opened for trade on Friday at $92.70 shortly, a 36% jump above its initial public offering price of $68 a share. More than 100 million shares changed hands in composite trading in the first 10 minutes of trading.

Atlanta -- Home Depot Inc. confirmed that some 56 million payment cards were likely compromised in its five-month data breach, making it the largest known breach of a retail company’s computer network to date. By comparison, the widely publicized breach at Target last December affected 40 million credit and debit cards.

The Clorox Company’s board of directors has promoted Benno Dorer to CEO, effective Nov. 20. At that time, Donald R. Knauss will continue serving on the board in a newly created executive chairman role.

Knauss has served as chairman and CEO of the company since October 2006. Since January 2013, Dorer, 50, has served as EVP and chief operating officer, cleaning, international and corporate strategy.

Investors don’t seem to care that Home Depot’s data breach is being characterized as the largest ever in the retail sector with shares of the company hitting a new high on Friday.

Home Depot shares touched a 52-week high of $93.75 on Friday a day after the company disclosed details about an extensive data breach which went undetected for months and compromised the information of 56 million customers.

Seattle -- Nordstrom on Friday opened its first store in Canada, at Chinook Centre in Calgary, Alberta. The two-level, 140,000-sq.-ft. store is also the department store retailer’s first location outside the United States.
 
"Being in business for 113 years, this is really a historic time for us as we open our first store in Canada - our first international store," said Sheila Wooldridge, Nordstrom Chinook Centre store manager.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has appointed Debra A. Crew president and chief commercial officer, effective Oct. 1. Crew is currently the president and general manager of PepsiCo North America Nutrition.

Undeterred by pet specialty heavyweights PetSmart and Petco, Pet Supermarket just opened its 150th location and has plans for more.

The forty year old Sunrise, Fla.-based company recently opened its 150th location in the central Florida town of Bartow and indicated it plans additional growth while stopping short of providing a specific expansion target. The company’s stores measure about 7,500-sq.-ft. and are currently concentrated in states such as Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, California and Nevada.