Labor & Employment

Specialty retailer Mattress Giant named industry veteran Mike Bookbinder as its new EVP merchandising and marketing. Bookbinder’s name is familiar to those in the world of sleep-related retail, as he spent 11 years with the New York-based Sleepy’s chain where he held various roles including EVP of sales and marketing. He also served as president of City Mattress in upstate New York and most recently was with mattress manufacturer King Koil where he served in a new business development role as SVP sales.

New York City -- An overwhelming majority (72%) of retailers report having a “great deal” of cash on their balance sheets and nearly half of them plan to invest some of it on information technology going forward, according to a survey by KPMG. At the same time, the executives’ assessment of the overall business outlook reflects only modest improvements in revenue and hiring in 2012.

Indianapolis -- Hhgregg announced Tuesday that it will open 10 new stores in south Florida, launching simultaneous grand-opening celebrations on July 14.

The new stores located in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach counties bring the total number of Hhgregg stores in Florida to 33, according to the retailer. The openings are in the communities of Aventura, Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, Hialeah, Pembroke Pines, Miami, Plantation, Jensen Beach, East Wellington and West Palm Beach.

MIAMI — Regional pharmacy chain Navarro Discount Pharmacy, which currently has 29 stores, has named finance executive Juan Ortiz the company's CFO, to the position of CEO.

Ortiz succeeds CEO Steve Kaczynski, whose expertise in retail merchandising and marketing over the last 18 months has been instrumental in setting a strategic direction for the company and expanding its footprint in South Florida and nationally.

Orlando, Fla. — The Network of Executive Women will induct the first group of honorees into the newly created CPG Retail Diversity Hall of Fame on Sept. 19, as part of the organization’s annual Leadership Summit.

New York City -- A report by Reuters on Tuesday said that a group of landlords have filed objections in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, disputing the process by which Borders Group is attempting to auction itself out of bankruptcy.

According to the nearly 20 landlords that filed objections on Friday and Monday, the plan offers no information regarding which leases would be assumed by potential buyers of Borders’ assets.

By David L. Barron

San Francisco -- A Bloomberg report on Tuesday said that three major grocery chains may have violated antitrust law by profit-sharing during a strike.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday ruled that Safeway, Supervalu Inc.’s Albertson’s and Kroger Co.’s Ralph’s supermarket chains were not exempt from antitrust scrutiny, as a court last year overturned a lower-court ruling that the agreement, reached during a 2003 conflict with the companies’ unions, didn’t violate antitrust law.