Consumer Affairs & Relations

NEW YORK — The Estée Lauder Cos, whose brand portfolio includes Bumble and Bumble, American Beauty, Aveda and La Mer, has appointed Tracey Travis as EVP and CFO.

She will jointly report to executive chairman William Lauder and Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO. Travis will assume her new position on Aug. 20.

Safeway’s recently rolled out Just 4 U loyalty program has chairman and CEO Steve Burd optimistic about the grocer’s prospects for sales growth and market share gains. Read more in this special report.
 

Lakewood, Colo. -- Outlet and value shopping center Colorado Mills announced the hiring of Deborah Celaya as director of marketing and business development.

In her new role, Celaya will be responsible for strategic marketing, business development, public relations, tenant relations, guest services and tourism.

Celaya most recently held a senior executive position at Race Partners, and has previously served as group VP for General Growth Properties.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Walmart Canada has invited more than 550 kids and 350 parents to participate in the first-ever Great Big Toy Testing Event. Taking place on July 21, the event gives kids and parents the opportunity to interact with more than 100 toys and will help the retailer determine the top toy list for the 2012 holiday season.

Visa and MasterCard announced a proposed $6.6 billion settlement to a long-running dispute over the fees they charge merchants, but a growing number of voices are saying not so fast.

For months, the debate over healthcare has almost exclusively focused on the individual-mandate, as we waited on the Supreme Court to determine the fate of the law. As a result many complex and crucial pieces of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), such as the employer-mandate, have received comparatively little attention. Given the enormous implications of changes to employer-sponsored coverage and the 170 million Americans who currently rely on it for coverage, it is time that more attention is paid to the issue.

Williamsville, N.Y. -- Tops Friendly Markets has entered an agreement with C&S Wholesale Grocers affiliate GU Markets to acquire 21 supermarkets located in upstate New York and Vermont.

Tops said the acquisition will bring its number of operating stores to 153 and will expand Tops' footprint further into areas of northern and eastern New York State and neighboring northern Vermont. For the time being, 20 of the stores will continue to operate under the Grand Union banner, while the other store will continue to operate under the Bryant's banner.

Boise, Idaho -- Albertsons LLC said it has teamed with Recall InfoLink to manage its recall process.

The supermarket chain is launching the Recall InfoLink deployment in its pharmacy operation. Recall InfoLink improves efficiency by providing standardized messages, automated communications, inventory tracking and reports for compliance efforts. 

The July 13 settlement of a lawsuit over allegedly fixed credit card interchange fees is a credit positive for the two largest industry players Visa and Mastercard, but will have a smaller impact on merchant acquirers, retailers and banks, said  Moody’s Investors Service in a new special comment "Credit Card Interchange Fee Settlement is Credit Positive For Visa, MasterCard."

Englewood, Colo. -- The Western Union Co. and Dollar General Corp. said that they have executed an agreement to begin offering two Western Union general-purpose reloadable prepaid cards at Dollar General’s more than 10,000 stores in 40 states.

Dollar General is now offering the Western Union MoneyWise and co-branded Western Union Telemundo cards.