Consumer Affairs & Relations

Whole Food’s said it gained market share during the third quarter, but the 5.9% same store sales increase the company reported fell short of expectations and the company tempered its outlook for 2014.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers, advertisers and marketers called on Congress today to involve the Federal Trade Commission in efforts to eliminate frivolous patent lawsuits, saying vague letters sent out by “patent trolls” demanding licensing fees amount to unfair and deceptive practices. Patent trolls are companies formed to develop potential patent-infringement lawsuits without manufacturing their own products.

The newest tactic to disparage Walmart by an organization called the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) involves race, politics and a convoluted connection to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Eight-year Walmart employee and OUR Walmart member Charmaine Givens-Thomas has posted a petition on the organization’s website invoking the name of the slain civil rights leader. She is seeking 100,000 signatures and a meeting with president Barack Obama to address the injustices to which she contends Walmart subjects its workers.

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market disappointed Wall Street analysts with its fourth quarter results despite posting increases in net income, sales and same-store sales. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, Whole Foods posted net income of $121 million, up 7% from $113 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

With plans to more than double its 200,000 global workforce in the foreseeable future, Starbucks is making a push to hire veterans and active duty spouses, much like other retailers like Walmart and Home Depot.

In addition, a store in Lakewood, Wash., and a store in San Antonio, Texas, will begin sharing a portion of each transaction with nonprofit programs Operation GoodJobs and Vested in Vets as part of a commitment to establish five such stores in joint base communities around the United States.

Washington, D.C. - A broad-based group of organizations including large and small employers, pharmacy benefit managers, providers, health benefits advisers and health plans from across the country have launched the Affordable Health Benefits Coalition (AHBC). The Coalition’s main priority is advancing policy ideas that it says will help people obtain more affordable health coverage.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Kmart will offer lease-to-own financing at stores nationwide this holiday season. The latest addition to Kmart's portfolio of financial services, the lease-to-own program began to rollout at Kmart stores in test markets as of Oct. 15 and will be available in all stores by Nov. 22. Giving customers a no credit-required way to take home the items they need right away, lease-to-own financing will be available year-round for merchandise priced at $150 and over.

Paramus, N.J. – A lone gunman who entered the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J., with an assault rifle the evening of Nov. 4 and went on an hours-long shooting rampage has reportedly been found dead of what appears to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the body of 20-year-old Richard Shoop of Teaneck, N.J., was found by authorities at 3:20 a.m. on Nov. 5 in an area of the mall usually not accessible to customers.