Consumer Affairs & Relations

New York -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. has named board member Daniel W. Dienst, who most recently served as CEO of Sims Metal Management, as CEO. The position has been vacant since December, when chief executive since Lisa Gersh left the media and merchandising company.

Dienst served as chairman and CEO of Metal Management Ltd. from 2003 to 2008, when it was sold to Sims. He then took the helm at the newly combined company.

New York – Larry Kirshbaum, a publishing industry executive who joined Amazon.com’s New York-based publishing unit in 2011, is reportedly leaving the company to become a literary agent. According to the Associated Press, Kirshbaum, who formerly was in charge of the Time Warner Book Group will officially leave his position in January 2014.

New York -- The former chief marketing officer of Kohl’s, Julie Gardner, has joined the board of Cardtronics, which operates more than 80,000 ATMs at locations throughout the United States and internationally.

Gardner spent 14 years at Kohl’s and most recently served as executive VP and chief marketing officer. Prior to Kohl’s, Gardner was with the Eckerd Corp., a regional drugstore chain that was eventually acquired by CVS.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Consumer confidence in October fell to a 10-month low, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. Industry experts said the drop showed that even the reopening of the federal government was not enough to reassure nervous consumers.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index decreased to 73.2, the weakest this year, down from 77.5 in September.

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Julie Gardner, former chief marketing officer at Kohl’s, is the newest board of Cardtronics, the world’s largest retail ATM owner.

Cardtronics operates a vast network of more than 80,000 ATMs at locations throughout the United States and internationally.

Gardner spent 14 years at Kohl’s and most recently served as EVP and chief marketing officer. Prior to Kohl’s, Gardner was with the Eckerd Corp., a regional drug store chain that was eventually acquired by CVS.

Dodgeville, Wis. — Lands’ End has announced the opening of its first standalone store within a shopping mall — in the Yorktown Center Mall in Lombard, Ill., a Chicago suburb.

The store is slated to open on Nov. 15. For each sale made during the Grand Opening Event, the store will donate $50 to the Glen Ellyn food Pantry for a Thanksgiving Food Box meal.

Caty, N.C. – Consumers have somewhat contradictory desires for greater data privacy and for businesses to have detailed insight into their personal needs, and also have seen improvement in how businesses use personal data. According to a new study from analytics technology provider SAS, 71% of 1,260 respondents surveyed said that recent news about government access to personal data increased their privacy concerns.

New product launches in key categories and strong marketing helped Newell Rubbermaid gain market share during the company’s third quarter.

The leading consumer goods company said sales for the period ended September 30, grew a modest 2.1% to $1.5 billion while net income, aided by the sale of the company’s hardware business, increased to $193.3 million, or 66 cents a share, from $108.3 million, or 37 cents a share.