Corporate Responsibility

Many teachers spend some of their own money on back-to-school supplies and to capitalize on the trend Walmart has introduced a 10% rebate program.

Washington, D.C. - The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), the standards and technology division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has released the Compliance Audit Interchange. The CAI is a specification that allows organizations to share compliance audit results securely with other companies who source from the same supplier location.

New York – Rob Brown, an actor best known for his role on the HBO series “Treme,” has reportedly settled a discrimination lawsuit against Macy’s and the city of New York. According to Reuters, Brown’s suit accused three Macy’s security guards in a New York store of handcuffing him, publicly accusing him of credit card fraud, and marching him through the store before harassing and mocking him in a detention cell for an hour in a June 2013 incident.

Seven hundred and fifty tons of plastic wrap — the equivalent of 1.5 million pounds — have been saved by Walmart China as a result of a simple change to warehouse operations.

The plastic savings were realized after Walmart developed a new system that involved reusable canvas belts to secure merchandise on pallets, thereby eliminating the need for one-time use plastic wrap. The canvas belt system is now in use at nine of Walmart’s distribution centers in China.

Paris -- The focus of c-suite and senior executive attention has shifted from economic uncertainty to data, technology and the supply chain, according to the Global Top of Mind Survey from KPMG International and the Consumer Goods Forum. Over half (54%) of respondents cited digital strategy for mobile/digital platforms as top of mind for their business during the next 12 months.

New York - Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (ESRT), a New York-based real estate investment trust, has completed the acquisition of the ground and operating leases at 112 West 34th Street and the ground lease at 1400 Broadway for a total of approximately $734 million in cash, common stock and operating partnership units. 112 West 34th Street is a 26-story, 650,769-rentable-sq.-ft.office tower, with 92,455-sq.-ft. of retail space located in the 34th Street/Penn Station submarket.

New York -- J.C. Penney has teamed up with NBC’s “Today Show” to display five mannequins created in the image of real Americans in the windows of its store in Manhattan. The mannequins, which include a model of woman in a wheelchair and a male double-leg amputee, were made by Fusion Specialties, Broomfield, Colorado.

Home furnishings retailer West Elm plans to open a new retail store in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, July 24, at 10 a.m. — its first in the state.