Consumer Affairs & Relations

Montreal -- Luxury jewelry store operator Birks & Mayors Inc. announced that effective Oct. 1, its corporate name will be changed to Birks Group Inc. and its ticker symbol will be changed to BGI.

Altoona, Pa. -- Joe S. Sheetz, executive VP of finance and store development for Sheetz, will assume the position of president and CEO, beginning Oct. 1.

Current chief executive Stan Sheetz leaves the presidency after 18 years and will stay active in the convenience store chain in the role of chairman.

Hollywood, Calif. – On Sept. 26, 2013, the board of directors of Frederick’s of Hollywood Group Inc. received a non-binding proposal letter from a consortium of HGI Funding LLC, TTG Apparel, LLC, Tokarz Investments, LLC, Fursa Alternative Strategies LLC, and Arsenal Group LLC to acquire all of the outstanding shares of its common stock.

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Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm today announced its 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action with a purchasing plan of $35 million in handcrafted products through 2015, a 40% increase in spend during the next two years. West Elm, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands, also pledged to make and source these products from businesses adhering to high social responsibility, health and safety standards, meeting local laws, best industry practices and the brand’s vendor code of conduct.

Wichita, Kan. – Rent-A-Center has opened a new store in Kihei, Hawaii. The new Rent-A-Center is located at 1215 S. Kihei Rd., Ste. 3.

“We’re very excited to be here in Kihei,” said store manager Robyn Idemoto. “We’ve gotten a great response from the community. Everyone’s like family out here, and I really like that. I feel that we can bring a lot of positivity to the community.”

Steve McKinney was named president of Kroger’s Fry’s Food Stores division in Arizona to succeed Jon Flora who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.

McKinney, 57, had previously served as vp of operations at Kroger’s Ralph’s division in California since 2007. The Fry’s division operates 119 stores in Arizona.

The National Retail Federation has announced the development of a new chief marketing officer council to serve as an advertising and marketing voice for the retail industry. The organization’s Retail Advertising and Marketing Association will transition into the newly created council.

Lands' End has named Michele Donnan-Martin as the company’s EVP and chief merchandising design officer. Donnan-Martin will report directly to CEO and president Edgar Huber.

She will be charged with leading all aspects of merchandising and design to ensure alignment of product development, price point strategies and design aesthetic to embrace and further build upon the Lands' End's brand. 

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is forecasting a 3.4% sales increase for the traditional November-December holiday period from last year — which spells good news for retailers. 

ICSC also anticipates that the other two measures of U.S. industry holiday sales — shopping-center inclined sales +3.4%, and chain-store sales +2.0 — will both increase over last year.