Labor & Employment

Bridgeview, Ill. -- Rose Paving Co., a leader in national parking lot management, has been named once again a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace for 2011. One hundred companies, organizations, and agencies were honored at an awards ceremony on Nov. 14 hosted by the Chicago Tribune. The awards, given for measured qualities including company leadership, career opportunities, workplace flexibility, and compensation & benefits were presented to Chicago-area companies for the second straight year.

By Todd Feinman, CEO of Identity Finder

The new year will see a changing of the guard in the chief executive’s office of several big retailers. Here are four to watch:

Costco
The torch has been passed at Costco Wholesale Corp., with president and COO Craig Jelinek stepping into the very big shoes of the company’s longtime chief executive and co-founder Jim Sinegal (effective January 1, 2012).

Westbrook, Maine -- Olympia Sports has opened its 200th store, in Dunkirk, Md., at Dunkirk Gateway Shopping Center.

The regional sporting goods chain has four more confirmed openings by yearend.

“We will continue to expand in our current footprint as well as throughout the Mid-Atlantic States. Our studies have shown a real opportunity for expansion throughout this new market, and we plan to aggressively pursue those opportunities,” said Ed Manganello, president.
 

AMSTERDAM — Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold reported sales of $9.3 billion and profits of $347.8 million in third quarter 2011, the company said.

Those figures represented a 2.5% increase in sales and a 15.2% increase in profits over third quarter 2010.

MEMPHIS — Discount retailer Fred's realized positive third-quarter results, thanks to "strong customer traffic, higher gross margins in its general merchandise and pharmacy departments, as well as improved management of controllable operating costs," Fred's CEO Bruce Efird said.

Total sales for the retailer rose 2% to $444.4 million, compared with the year-ago period, while comparable-store sales were flat. Net income increased 16% to $9 million, compared with last year, while earnings per diluted share rose 20% to 24 cents.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. said Monday that while profit rose dramatically in the third quarter thanks to a business unit divestiture, the retailer will cut several of its lines and close underperforming stores nationwide to shore up profitability.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Mattel has announced that Robert A. Eckert, 57, will retire as CEO, after 11 years with the company, effective Dec. 31. The board of directors has named Bryan G. Stockton, 58, who has held the position of chief operating officer for the last year, to succeed Eckert as CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2012. Eckert has agreed to continue in his role as chairman of the board, and the board has elected Stockton as a member of the board, effective January 1, 2012.