Finance & Capital Management

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot Inc. has named Juliet Johansson as executive VP and chief strategy officer, effective immediately. Johansson is a member of Office Depot’s executive committee and reports to Roland Smith, chairman and CEO of Office Depot Inc.

Minneapolis - Kevin Davidson has joined merchandising intelligence solutions provider Quantum Retail Technology Inc. as its CFO. Davidson brings more than 20 years of financial management and corporate development experience to Quantum and will report to CEO Steve Buege.

Davidson joins Quantum after serving as CEO of Critical Perfusion from 2012 to 2014. Previously he held C-level positions with BioDrain Medical Inc., OrthoRehab Inc., and was a managing director at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Juliet Johansson, a former executive with a dental implant manufacturer, is Office Depot’s new EVP and chief strategy officer.

Leading global cooler manufacturer Igloo was acquired by Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm ACON Investments from Connecticut-based private equity firm J.H. Whitney.

ACON said J.H. Whitney will continue to maintain a small, but undisclosed, stake in the company. Igloo will continue to be led by chairman and CEO Gary Kiedaisch and other members of the existing management team who are also purchasing significant interests in Igloo in connection with the transaction. The company will focus on continued growth in the outdoors, housewares and sporting goods markets.

Global business advisory firm AlixPartners has been hired by Men’s Wearhouse to aid in the integration of its recent acquisition of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers.

Toy maker Jakks Pacific secured a $75 million credit facility from GE Capital.

The nine year old company based in Malibu, Calif., plans to use proceeds for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purposes as needed.

The nation’s largest egg producer, Cal-Maine Foods, named Wil Webb to a new role as vp of operations.

Webb will be responsible for the company’s extensive production facilities in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and reports to Cal-Maine COO Sherman Miller. Webb has been employed with Cal-Maine Foods since 1997 and most recently served as general manager of the company’s operations in Edwards, Mississippi.

Washington, D.C. -- Consumers opened up their pocketbooks a bit in February, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department. Consumer spending increased 0.3% last month after a downwardly revised gain of 0.2% in January. The February increase was the biggest since November.

Personal income was up 0.3%, matching January's gain. It was the second straight monthly increase.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. retailers reportedly have $300 million in refunds with ocean freight vendors, yet they are unaware of this because of invoice errors by their ocean freight transportation providers. According to a report from ocean freight auditing service Ocean Audit, problems with infrastructure of ocean freight carriers are also part of the issue.

Phoenix -- PetSmart on Friday celebrated the opening of a new distribution center in Berks County, Pa.

The new facility will bring an estimated 500 jobs to Berks County by the end of 2016. The 870,000-sq.-ft. DC will serve 25% of PetSmart’s stores in eleven states, handling and delivering consumables, hard goods and fish to 170 PetSmart stores in 2014 and more than 260 stores by 2015.