Consumer Affairs & Relations

San Francisco -- Four months after the Supreme Court tossed out a huge class-action lawsuit by female Walmart employees who claimed they were discriminated against by the world’s largest retailer, a smaller, regionalized group of employees has regrouped to file another gender-bias claim against Wal-Mart Stores.

New York City -- The U.S. retail industry will perform in line with sluggish U.S. GDP growth through 2012 as persistent unemployment, stock market volatility and economic gloom weigh on consumer confidence and spending, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service.
 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Big 5 Sporting Goods announced that it has appointed Dominic DeMarco to serve on its board of directors, thereby expanding the board to seven members. DeMarco is director, co-chief investment officer and chief compliance officer for Stadium Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm whose affiliated funds have been shareholders of Big 5 since 2006 and taken together are the company's largest current shareholder.

Deerfield, Ill. -- First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday toured a Walgreens store on Chicago’s South Side to view the company’s efforts to fight the childhood obesity epidemic and provide better food options and accessible health care to under-served communities.

The event was part of a mayoral summit hosted by the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation said it welcomed a proposal unveiled by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., to reform the nation’s corporate tax structure.

CHICAGO — At an event Tuesday in Chicago, Supervalu announced that it will open a Save-A-Lot store in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago, bringing thae total number of Save-A-Lot stores in the Chicagoland area to 14. Supervalu, which said it is opening the store as part of its commitment to helping eliminate food deserts nationally, made the announcement alongside First Lady Michelle Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The Lawndale store will open by the end of November. 

WAYNE, N.J. — The Toys"R"Us Children's Fund announced it will award $1 million in grants to 54 nonprofit organizations supporting children in the state of New Jersey. The grants will be distributed to the selected charities by Dec. 31 through the Fund's statewide giving initiative, which launched in March. According to the company, the grants will help to alleviate economic challenges and sustain organizations that favorably impact children across New Jersey, where both the Fund and Toys"R"Us Inc. are headquartered.

Beijing -- The Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, China, said that Wal-Mart Stores has reopened 13 stores in Chongqing after being forced by authorities to close the stores for 15 days over the mislabeling of regular pork as organic.

Chongqing authorities had also arrested two employees and fined the company $421,000 on charges of passing off regular pork as higher-priced organic meat earlier in October.