Consumer Affairs & Relations

New York -- Fifth & Pacific Cos., formerly known as Liz Claiborne, agreed to sell its Juicy Couture brand to Authentic Brands Group for $195 million, according to various reports.  

"This decision is the result of a process we began last year—studying our resource allocation needs, our capital structure, and the operating risks and opportunities associated with a three-brand portfolio while still maximizing shareholder value," said William McComb, CEO of Fifth & Pacific, in a statement.

A manufacturing facility in Rogers, Ar., operated by Redman & Associates plans to hire 74 new workers as it increases domestic sourcing of ride-on toys sold at Walmart.

San Francisco – Twitter has officially filed for an IPO with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The social network reported a net loss of $79.4 million, down 38% from the previous year, on revenue of $316.9 million in 2012, a 198% increase from 2011.

In addition, Twitter said in the filing it has 215 million members who send 500 million tweets per day.

Leading food company ConAgra is out with its 2013 Citizenship Report detailing progress on a three-pronged citizenship platform of, “good for you, good for the community and good for the planet.”

The report is intended to show how the company is doing good through food while delivering growth for shareholders and is available here.

A recent string of media reports has focused on major retailers that track customers who return merchandise. While the plaintiffs’ bar and the media are seeking to transform return monitoring into a headline-grabbing consumer privacy issue, the practice is hardly new, it is certainly justified as an anti-fraud measure and any litigation or compliance risk should be mitigated by appropriate disclosures.

Ahold USA-owned supermarket chain Giant Food Stores celebrated its 90th birthday.

The supermarket banner, which operates nearly 200 stores under the Giant and Martin's Food Markets brands in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, marked its anniversary Friday morning at a store in its hometown of Carlisle, Pa. Customers at all the company's 200 stores will receive free slices of cake and free apple slices Friday.

San Bernardino, Calif. -- Stater Bros. Markets announced that its VP of real estate, Mike Slaton, died suddenly on Sept. 28.

As a tribute to Slaton, the new 44,000 sq. ft. Stater Bros. supermarket, which opened last week in Redlands, Calif., will be dedicated in his honor.

Purchase, N.Y. — The March of Dimes Greater N.Y. Chapter and the Real Estate Award Breakfast Committee have named National Realty & Development Corp. as the 2013 Real Estate Award recipient.

This year marks the 26th annual Real Estate Award Breakfast and the 75th aAnniversary of the March of Dimes. The breakfast will be held November 14 at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel in White Plains.

Walmart was an early proponent of compact fluorescent light bulbs and now, thanks to a collaboration with GE, it plans to introduce low cost LED light bulbs under its Great Value store brand.

Harris Teeter’s shareholders voted to approve the previously announced merger agreement among Harris Teeter, Hornet Acquisition and Kroger.

Approximately 98.6% of the votes cast were in favor of the agreement, representing approximately 82.5% of Harris Teeter’s outstanding common stock as of Aug. 22.