International Business

Former Ahold and CVS executive Paula Price is the newest member of the Dollar General board of directors.

She joins the board of the 11,500 store retailer at a pivotal time. Dollar General is in the midst of a search for a top executive to succeed Rick Dreiling who has indicated he will step down next year and two of the company’s arch rivals, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, have announced plans to merge.

McCormick’s VP, general counsel and corporate secretary W. Geoffrey Carpenter plans to retire January 1, 2015. Carpenter has been with McCormick for more than 30 years and has served there as an executive officer since his appointment to his current position in 2008.

RuMe, an earth friendly lifestyle brand, has appointed Farhan Yasin to its board of directors. Yasin joins RuMe's board to provide strategic guidance on the company's continued innovation and expansion within e-commerce, business operations and managing its rapid growth.

Sears Holdings has appointed former Tesco executive Alasdair James as president and chief member officer for the Kmart business.

In this role, James will be responsible for driving the Kmart format strategy, managing the Kmart P&L and aligning merchandise, marketing, pricing and selling with the needs and wants of Shop Your Way members.

Three executives were named to new roles at leading appliance and consumer electronics manufacturer Haier America.

Haier America, part of the $29 billion Haier Group, named Gina Copeland SVP of air quality, Sanjay Gupta VP of product platform development for major appliances and Paul Riley as VP of sales and marketing for major appliances.

Shanghai, China -- M&M’S celebrated the grand opening of its first M&M’S World store in Asia – M&M’s World Shanghai, a 17,000+-sq.-ft. entertainment destination that marks the brand’s fifth M&M’s World flagship store. Current flagships include Times Square, New York; Orlando; Las Vegas; and Leicester Square London.
 
Spanning two floors and combining iconic Chinese landmarks and cultural elements, the store features a large array of candies and M&M-branded merchandise.

New York - Following a strong economic pick-up in fourth quarter 2013, values for both imports and exports fell during first quarter 2014, compared to the previous quarter. According to a new report from supply chain research firm Panjiva, imports dropped 5.42% and exports 3.84% from fourth quarter 2013, though activity in March fared better than in January and February.
 
Some of the report highlights include:

A massive new Academy Sports and Outdoors distribution center in Tennessee is expected to fuel the retailer’s growth for years to come when the 1.6 million-sq.-ft. facility opens in 2016.