Finance & Capital Management

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., will open a new store in the California Central Valley on Sept. 27. The store is located in the Shaw Village Shopping Center in Clovis.  

Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate approximately 150 locations in 13 states and is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014.

GNC Holdings has appointed former Dick's Sporting Goods executive Jeffrey R. Hennion as EVP, chief marketing and e-commerce Officer, and former Office Depot executive Daisy Vanderlinde as chief human resource officer.

Additionally, Carl Seletz, GNC's SVP of international business development, will assume the additional responsibility of leading the company's domestic and international franchise operations.

Brown Shoe Company has invested in Jack Erwin, a men’s brand that offers high-quality, handmade men’s shoes directly to consumers.

“We looked at several companies and Jack Erwin really stood out to us as a great incubator brand with high growth potential and an interesting, new business model,” said Diane Sullivan, CEO, president and chairman of Brown Shoe Company. “Lane and Ariel, the founders, have an unwavering commitment to quality and detail and represent the next generation of business in our industry.”

L'Oréal USA Women in Digital, a program that recruits, supports and promotes female entrepreneurs in technology, has announced the three new companies that have been selected as winners of its 2014 NEXT Generation Awards.

The winners — GLAMSQUAD, Jibo and Shareablee — were honored Thursday evening at an event in New York City hosted by athlete, fashion pioneer, actress and L'Oreal Paris spokeswoman Aimee Mullins, to celebrate both established and up-and-coming female leaders in technology.

Fairway has appointed Jack Murphy as CEO. Murphy was a co-founder of natural foods grocer Fresh Fields before it was sold to Whole Foods, and most recently served as CEO of Earth Fare, an organics and natural food chain with locations in the Southeast and Midwest.

Undeterred by pet specialty heavyweights PetSmart and Petco, Pet Supermarket just opened its 150th location and has plans for more.

The forty year old Sunrise, Fla.-based company recently opened its 150th location in the central Florida town of Bartow and indicated it plans additional growth while stopping short of providing a specific expansion target. The company’s stores measure about 7,500-sq.-ft. and are currently concentrated in states such as Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, California and Nevada.

The merger between Albertsons and Safeway is expected to close in a few months and when it does the combined company already has a new senior leadership and field operations structure in place.

The companies late Friday announced key leadership positions it said drew on strong talent within both organizations to build an innovative, customer-focused and growth-driven company.

Investors don’t seem to care that Home Depot’s data breach is being characterized as the largest ever in the retail sector with shares of the company hitting a new high on Friday.

Home Depot shares touched a 52-week high of $93.75 on Friday a day after the company disclosed details about an extensive data breach which went undetected for months and compromised the information of 56 million customers.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has appointed Debra A. Crew president and chief commercial officer, effective Oct. 1. Crew is currently the president and general manager of PepsiCo North America Nutrition.

The Clorox Company’s board of directors has promoted Benno Dorer to CEO, effective Nov. 20. At that time, Donald R. Knauss will continue serving on the board in a newly created executive chairman role.

Knauss has served as chairman and CEO of the company since October 2006. Since January 2013, Dorer, 50, has served as EVP and chief operating officer, cleaning, international and corporate strategy.