Corporate Responsibility

European apparel retailer H&M and Inditex, parent company of fashion retailer Zara, are signing on to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement, an independent, legally-binding agreement to guarantee safe working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment industry. 

H&M is a top purchaser of garments from Bangladesh, and hopes that the agreement leads to “far-reaching improvements in working conditions.” 

ATLANTA — Aaron's, a lease-to-own retailer specializing in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has appointed Robert W. Kamerschen as the company’s new SVP and general counsel.

Miami, Fla. — Miami City Ballet’s Board of Trustees today elected former Macy’s executive Susan D. Kronick as its new president of the board.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Acosta Sales & Marketing, a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry, is partnering with the Wounded Warrior Project to hold the 2013 Believe in Heroes campaign. 

Philadelphia -- Wet Seal Inc. agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a federal racial discrimination lawsuit that accused retailer of firing black employees because they didn’t fit the retailer’s “brand image.”
   
The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund represented the plaintiffs in the class-action effort. The lawsuit alleged that former top Wet Seal executives denied equal pay and promotion opportunities to black store managers or removed them outright, replacing them with white employees.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is marking a special milestone Thursday, May 16, when it opens its 200th store in Swartz Creek, Mich. The store opening will create more than 200 jobs for the community. 

To celebrate the event, the family-owned retailer will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. at the store, located at 4141 Morrish Rd. Meijer officials will be on hand, and the retailer will make presentations to the Swartz Creek Food Bank and the Swartz Creek Civic Center enhancement project.

SALT LAKE CITY — As part of its philanthropic efforts, Walmart is holding a fundraiser between now and Friday, June 21 benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Walmart is inviting customers and Sam’s Club members to make a $1 donation or more at the retailers’ more than 4,600 U.S. locations. Participants can add a “Miracle Balloon” donation during checkout, and 100% of all funds raised will go directly to the member hospital in the area. 

Bentonville, Ark. — Walmart and its philanthropic arm, the Walmart Foundation, were busy working alongside notable food companies in April, as part of the corporation’s Fighting Hunger Together Initiative. 

Between April 1 and April 30, more than 443,000 votes were cast for the more than 300 eligible Feeding America food banks and partner agencies as part of the campaign, which fights hunger in local communities. 

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart’s Acres for America program, a conservation partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, is working on new projects in Arkansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine and Oregon.

New York -- Ikea has officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its store in Stoughton, Mass. The 118,000-sq.-ft. array consists of a 590.8-kW (DC) system, built with 4,220 laminated panels. It will produce approximately 695,000 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 479 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), eliminating the emissions of 94 cars or powering 60 homes yearly (calculating clean energy equivalents).