International Business

The General Mills board of directors has added Henrietta Fore, CEO of consulting and investment company Holsman International, to its ranks.

Fore currently serves as the chair of Holsman’s board of directors and global co-chair of both WomenCorporateDirectors and Asia Society, and previously oversaw the U.S. Mint and was administrator of U.S. international development.

Fore joins the General Mills board, as current member and former Sprint chief, William Esrey, prepares to leave in September after 25 years.

Dedham, Mass. - Reflexis Systems Inc. today announced the appointment of Brett Friedman as senior VP of global sales and marketing. He will be responsible for expanding the Reflexis global sales team and building upon the company’s growth.

Friedman brings 15 years of sales and marketing experience and joins Reflexis from Infor, where he had global revenue responsibility for supply chain and PLM solutions. Prior to Infor, he was senior VP of global sales at Allegro Development and has also held leadership positions at SAP and i2 Technologies.

HanesBrands plans to acquire DBApparel of France from Sun Capital Partners, provided consultation with European and French works councils representing DBA employees is completed and customary closing conditions are met.

Minneapolis – Best Buy Inc. is reportedly considering selling off its Chinese business or finding a partner to help operate it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Best Buy is working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to examine its options in China.

Former Walmart CEO Lee Scott is among four new members of board of directors at Yahoo, a company whose CEO Marissa Mayer serves on the Walmart board.

Duluth, Minn. – Specialty young women’s apparel store Maurices plans to open 15 new stores, including seven grand openings and eight reopenings, through the middle of July. The new stores include:

Grand Openings:
June 27: Lufkin, Texas at Lufkin Mall and Greensburg, Indiana, at Greensburg Crossing.
July 4: Aurora, Colorado, at The Gardens on Havana.
July 5: Hoffman Estates, Illinois, at Poplar Creek Crossing.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – A 16% year-over-year jump in third quarter profit still missed Wall Street estimates, causing Walgreen Co. to withdraw previously issued fiscal 2016 guidance. During the third quarter of fiscal 2015, Walgreen reported net earnings of $722 million, up 16% from $624 million in the same period the previous fiscal year.

More strategic. That’s how Greg Esgar, CFO of Massage Envy Spa, the nation’s largest therapeutic massage chain, sums up the evolving role of today’s CFO. Esgar joined the Scottsdale, Arizona-based business as financial chief in 2004, two years after it was founded. As part of the executive team, he helped spur the company’s growth from 17 locations to its present total of nearly 1,000 sites in 49 states. With its membership-based, monthly-fee business model, Massage Envy Spa eschews the luxury amenities and high prices of traditional day spas.