Consumer Affairs & Relations

Kirkland, Wash. – Digital coupon provider VisibleBrands has added former Procter & Gamble VP Jan Murley to its board of directors, while former Safeway Stores board member Rebecca Stirn was added to the company’s advisory council.

Murley was a 23-year marketing veteran with Procter and Gamble and was the VP of its skin care division. Stirn was on Safeway’s board of directors from 1999 to 2010. She has more than two decades of executive marketing experience with a variety of industries.

New York – 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. reportedly had a difficult time meeting customer demand for Valentine’s Day. According to CNN, the retailer has sent apologies via Twitter and Facebook to roughly 1,000 customers for deliveries that were late, missing or damaged.

Abilene, Kansas – A group called Concerned Alco Stockholders (CAS), led shareholders David Pointer and Dilip Singh, it intends to mail its own proxy statement to stockholders of Alco Stores Inc. for the purpose of giving Alco stockholders the opportunity to vote for new board members at the Alco 2014 annual meeting of stockholders.

Cal-Maine Foods’ VP of operations-production Jack B. Self has died at the age of 84. Self had been an employee of Cal-Maine Foods since 1968.

New York -- The costs related to Target's  data breach have now exceeded $200 million for financial institutions, according to  the Consumer Bankers Association and the Credit Union National Association, the Associated Press reported. The $200 million figure does not include the cost of any a fraudulent activity, which would push the cost of the breach to the industry higher as consumers are not held liable.

The two trade associations said that 21.8 million of the 40 million compromised credit and debit cards have been replaced.

New York – Social fundraising platform Kickstarter.com suffered a data breach that exposed personal data of some users to hackers. On a corporate blog post, Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler said that on Wednesday, Feb. 12, law enforcement notified the company that hackers had sought and gained unauthorized access to some of its customers' data.

Washington, D.C. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has entered into a partnership with the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) to enhance cyber security information sharing and expand retailers’ proactive and vigilant approach to cyber threats to protect consumers against criminals.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has entered into a partnership with the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) to enhance cybersecurity information sharing and expand retailers’ proactive and vigilant approach to cyber threats to protect consumers against criminals.