Consumer Affairs & Relations

Plano, Texas — J. C. Penney Company, Inc. has named Ed Record executive VP and CFO, effective March 24. He will succeed Ken Hannah, who will remain CFO through that date to ensure a smooth transition.

As CFO, Record will be responsible for the financial operations of the company. He will report to Myron E. (Mike) Ullman III, CEO of J.C. Penney, and join the company`s executive board.

From loading trucks at the age of 17, to meeting his wife on the Bentonville square to becoming an assistant buyer and interacting with founder Sam Walton, Walmart’s new CEO Doug McMillon is sharing details about his journey to becoming the company’s youngest CEO.
 

Whole Foods Market said total sales for the first quarter ended Jan. 19 climbed 10% to a record $4.2 billion. But those results reportedly missed analysts’ expectations, and the company has lowered its earnings outlook for 2014 as a result.

Momentum at Whole Foods — as well as shares — slipped. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 5.4%, compared to a 7.2% increase in the prior year.

San Bernadino, Calif. – Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. reported a substantial increase in net income, for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income more than doubled to $11.1 million from $5.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Net sales rose almost 2% to $984 million, to $968.7 million.  

Same-store sales grew 1.4%. Jack H. Brown, chairman, president and CEO of Stater Bros., credited the supermarket retailer’s maintaining of a low-price market strategy during difficult economic times with boosting financial performance.

Hanoi, Vietnam – Vietnamese property developer and mall operator Vingroup JSC is reportedly preparing to launch an e-commerce venture. According to Bloomberg, Le Thi Thu Thuy vice chairwoman of Vingroup, has left that position to lead an online subsidiary called VinE-com.

VinE-com will reportedly sell a wide range of products to Vietnamese consumers and compete locally with global e-commerce retailers including Ebay and China’s Alibaba. Thuy told Bloomberg VinE-com is looking to acquire other Vietnamese e-commerce providers.

Stater Bros. reported a substantial increase in net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 and credited its long-time low-price strategy for its sales growth.

Washington, D.C. - The Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), a trade association of closed loop gift card retailers committed to promoting and protecting the use of gift cards, has appointed Mary Donovan, account director Kellen Company as the new executive director. Kellen Company has been named the association's management firm.

In addition, the RGCA has named Nicole Willis of Groupon and Erin Wood of Subway to the board of directors. They will be filling vacant board positions left by their respective companies.

New York - A new Verizon report has found that too many businesses, following their annual assessment for meeting the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, fail to maintain ongoing compliance – putting the businesses at an increased risk for data breaches, and financial and reputational damages.