International Business

McCormick & Company has named Brendan Foley as president of U.S. consumer effective June 2. Foley will lead the largest business unit for McCormick and will report directly to president of global consumer and CAO Lawrence Kurzius.

Bentonville, Ark. – U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser has recommended that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and former Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke face a shareholder lawsuit alleging they concealed corrupt activities at Wal-Mart’s Mexican operation.

The suit, filed by a Michigan pension fund, claims Wal-Mart knew of bribery allegations involving its Wal-Mart de Mexico business in 2005 and conducted an internal investigation in 2005 and 2006, but never notified shareholders.

Coca-Cola Bottling Co., the nation’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, has signed a definitive agreement with The Coca-Cola Company to expand the bottler’s franchise territory to include the Morristown and Johnson City, Tenn., territories currently served by Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc. (CCR), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company.

Freeport, Maine – L.L.Bean Inc. has appointed two new independent directors to its corporate board. The new board members are Matthew Moellering, executive VP and CEO of Express Inc., and Hugh Farrington, former president and CEO of Hannaford Brothers Company.

Ralph Lauren’s executive vice chairman Roger Farah plans to leave the company at the end of the month. Farah will remain on the board of directors until the expiration of his term on the date of the company’s 2014 annual meeting of stockholders in August.

New York -- Ralph Lauren Corp. on Friday announced that Roger Farah, executive chairman, will retire at the end of May. He will remain on the company’s board until his terms expires in August. Farah, one of the retail industry’s most respected executives, is credited with turning Ralph Lauren into a global powerhouse.

The timing of Easter this year left Costco with 27 days of sales in April, rather than last year’s 28. But despite the Easter holiday shift, Costco still came out on top with a 7% increase in net sales that reportedly beat analysts’ expectations.

Lyndhurst, N.J. -- Citizen Watch Company, a leader in the mid-priced watch segment, will will a global flagship store in Times Square, New York, on Broadway in November. This will be the first Citizen Watch global retail concept store in North America.

The store will measure more than 1,300 sq. ft. and offer the full Citizen product assortment. Citizen has hired New York based architectural firm Mapos LLC.