Labor & Employment

Four senior executive promotions have been announced by Mid-American Real Estate Corporation.   Brian Adams, Greg Bayer, and Willie Hoag have all been named principals at the Oakbrook, Illinois-based company, a real estate services company that also operates in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Peter Scannell has been promoted to senior VP.  

Altar'd State, a fast-growing women's fashion brand with more than 70 stores, has added to its senior leadership team with two retail veterans.   John Buell has joined Altar'd State as senior VP, CFO. Buell is a 13-year Limited Stores veteran, having most recently served as Interim CEO. Prior to joining Limited, Buell spent 15 years at Sears, Roebuck, and Co.   

The food safety crisis that took the wind out of the sails of formerly high-flying Chipotle Mexican Grill has finally taken a toll on the chain’s executive suite.   The chain announced that Monty Moran has stepped down as co-CEO and from his board seat, effective immediately. Chipotle founder Steve Ells, currently co-CEO, will be the sole chief executive. He will also remain chairman.   

Lululemon athletica inc. has promoted Celeste Burgoyne to executive VP, retail, Americas, effective immediately.    Burgoyne has been with lululemon since 2006 and most recently served as senior VP, retail, North America where she was responsible for overseeing all Canadian and U.S. retail. She started her career with Abercrombie & Fitch, where she held various positions during her ten years with the company, including most recently, senior director of stores.  

President-elect Donald Trump will name Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, as labor secretary, according to several media reports.   Puzder, whose company operates the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s burger retail chains, has argued against raising the minimum wage to more than $9 per hour. He also has been an advocate of cutting back or eliminating regulations he claims have been a detriment to the restaurant industry and has been critical of the Affordable Care Act.  

Staples will sell a controlling stake in its European operations to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for an estimated $53.65 million as the retailer continues to focus on North America following its failed take-over of Office Depot.  

The ongoing saga of American Apparel is slowly making its way to a final conclusion.    The beleaguered retailer is seeking court approval to shutter nine poor-performing stores by the end of  December, prior to the auction of its business on Jan. 9, reported The Wall Street Journal, American Apparel filed Chapter 11 in November, its second filing in 15 months.   

The National Retail Federation and a coalition representing retailers, manufacturers, truckers, transportation intermediaries and other business groups have asked the Federal Maritime Commission to set new policy preventing terminal operators and ocean carriers from charging unfair fees when uncontrollable incidents such as storms and strikes keep cargo from being picked up from ports on time.  

Starbucks Corp. unveiled an ambitious five-year strategy that calls for major expansion, includes two new store formats, including freestanding bakeries.      The coffee giant said it plans to plans to open approximately 12,000 new stores globally by 2021, including 5,000 cafes in China. The new round of expansion would bring Starbucks’s total store portfolio to approximately 37,000 locations.   

In a move that is likely to help it attract new talent — and hold on to existing employees — Ikea U.S. has announced one of the most generous and inclusive parental leave programs in the U.S. retail industry.    Effective Jan. 1, Ikea will provide all its 13,000 U.S. salaried and hourly employees who are expanding their families — including mothers, fathers and adoptive and foster parents — with up to four months of paid parental leave.