Consumer Affairs & Relations

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market has announced two new locations for Manhattan. The company said it plans to open a 39,000-sq.ft. store in the city’s Harlem neighborhood in 2015. The supermarket will be located in the middle of the area’s business district, on 125th Street and Lennox Avenue.

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival announced that Mark L. Lemond is retiring for health reasons from his positions as president, CEO and director effective Oct. 27.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart is looking for five interns for a new program designed to provide opportunities to Hispanic women.

Plainview, N.Y. -- Out-of-stocks are the most important overall element that impact satisfaction with the grocery trip experience, according to a study by The Retail Feedback Group. Satisfaction among shoppers unable to find all items they had planned to buy on their shopping trip averaged 3.97 on a five-point scale (with 5 as the highest), compared with 4.54 among shoppers who did find all items.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will not face class-action gender-discrimination claims in a federal court lawsuit in Texas, Bloomberg reported. U.S District Judge Reed O’Connor has dismissed the Texas class complaint, finding that the lawsuit was filed too late.

The suit, which alleged the retailer discriminated against women in pay and promotions in the company’s Texas region, sought to represent all women hourly and salaried workers, below store managers, employed by Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club in the region.

Matthews, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores has named Jocelyn Wong to the position of SVP, chief marketing officer. Wong will report to Michael Bloom, president and COO.

Secaucus, N.J. — The Children's Place Retail Stores has named Tricia Griffith to the company's board of directors.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart and Humana have teamed up again to help Medicare beneficiaries afford their prescriptions. With annual enrollment open until Dec. 7, 2012, for 2013 Medicare plans, the Humana-Walmart Preferred Rx Plan announced that it offers one monthly plan premium of $18.50 a month for beneficiaries in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., regardless of where they live.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. —-- Sears Holdings has successfully separated out its Sears Hometown and Outlet Sores businesses.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Kodak is moving forward with its plans to emerge from bankruptcy and said Friday it is ready to discuss reorganization plans with certain key creditor groups.