Consumer Affairs & Relations

When Walmart lowered its full year sales forecast last month the company said customer were being cautious with their spending. Maybe so, but that wasn’t the case in new car showrooms were automakers reported record sales and in the process created new holiday headwind for Walmart and other retailers.

Campbell Soup Co. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. are joining forces and launching Campbell’s Fresh-Brewed Soup K-Cup packs, which will offer consumers Campbell’s soups that can be prepared in Keurig brewers.

Nashville, Tenn. - Harwood Feffer LLP is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Genesco Inc., concerning whether the board has breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders. On August 29, 2013, Genesco disclosed that it may be forced to restate certain financial statements due to potential violations of generally accepted accounting principles.

Jacksonville, Fla. - Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is investigating potential claims on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Stein Mart Inc. The investigation focuses on whether Stein Mart and/or certain of its officers complied with the federal securities laws when making statements to investors.

Chicago -- Whole Foods Market plans to open an 18,000-sq.-ft. store on Chicago’s South Side, in the impoverished Englewood neighborhood, in 2015. The store will be built as part of a larger development at the northwest corner of South Halsted and West 63rd Streets. The retail portion of the site is being developed by DL3.

NORTHFIELD, Ill. — Kraft Foods Group has appointed former Procter & Gamble executive Teri List-Stoll as the company's SVP of finance, succeeding current CFO Timothy McLevish in the first quarter of 2014.

New York -- Hedge fund manager Richard Perry has upped his already substantial share in J.C. Penney Co. Perry’s Perry Capitol LLC now ranks as Penney's second-largest investor after George Soros.
    
It was disclosed on Friday that Perry bought an additional three million shares of Penney in a secondary offering for $12.90 a share, and that it now owns 8.62% of the company, up from its previous 7.3% stake.
      

Seattle -- Recreational Equipment (REI) named Jerry Stritzke as the company's president and CEO, effective Oct. 1, following an extensive national search. Stritzke most recently served as president and COO for Coach, which announced his resignation, effective Sept. 2.