International Business

New York -- Apparel manufacturer and retailer Kellwood has named Joseph Lombardi, the former CFO of Barnes & Noble, as CEO.

Lombardi joined Kellwood as CFO in 2013, and has three decades of retail experience across a variety of sectors, including apparel.

Atlanta – The Home Depot Inc. has named CEO and president Craig Menear as chairman, effective Feb. 2. He will succeed Frank Blake, who will retire as chairman.
 

Walgreens Boot Alliance will be looking to fill some big shoes, as Thomas Sabatino Jr., executive VP, global chief legal and administrative officer, will be leaving the company to join Hertz Global Holdings effective Feb.9.

Sabatino will join Hertz Global Holdings as senior executive VP, chief administrative officer and general counsel.

Sabatino will remain in his current role with Walgreens Boots Alliance through the end of January to ensure a smooth transition of his current responsibilities.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – AutoNation Inc. has named Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO, to the additional role of president, effective Feb. 4, and signed a five-year employment contract extension through 2019. Jackson has been the CEO of AutoNation since 1999 and the chairman since 2002.  

New York -- Chinese online giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is testing a mobile messaging app designed to combine social networking with business.

The app, called DingTalk, is still in beta testing.

Capable of carrying conference calls and group messaging, DingTalk targets small- and medium-sized enterprises, many of which are already Alibaba's customers, according to Reuters.

Leading apparel manufacturer Kellwood has named ex-Barnes & Noble chief financial officer Joseph Lombardi as CEO.

Lombardi joined Kellwood as CFO in 2013, and has three decades of retail experience across a variety of sectors, including apparel.

Overshadowed by Target’s bombshell announcement to exit Canada, the retailer said U.S. sales – and profits – were much better than expected during the holidays.

The favorable combination of increased traffic and stronger than expected digital sales enabled the company to produce a 3% same store sales increase during November and December versus an earlier forecast which called for 2% growth.

Brian Cornell, CEO and chairman of Target Corp., used the company’s A Bullseye View blog to discuss Target’s decision to shutter its operations in Canada.

Does this decision mean that Target is declaring bankruptcy?