Labor & Employment

Deerfield, Ill. - Thomas Sabatino Jr., executive VP, global chief legal and administrative officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance, will be leaving the company to join Hertz Global Holdings effective Feb.9. Sabatino will join Hertz Global Holdings as senior executive VP, chief administrative officer and general counsel.

Sabatino will remain in his current role with Walgreens Boots Alliance through the end of January to ensure a smooth transition of his current responsibilities. The company expects to announce his successor at that time.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Josh Beyer, P.E., has been promoted to senior VP of Development at The Sembler Company, overseeing all shopping center development in Florida, the Gulf Coast, and the southeastern U.S.

Beyer has been with the company for 12 years and, in that time, has been involved with more than 1.5 million sq. ft. of development, including Colony Plaza (The Villages, Florida), Park Street Retail Center (St. Petersburg, Florida) and Cross Creek Village (St. Cloud, Florida).

New York -- Consumers are feeling bullish, buoyed by low gas prices and an improving job market. The University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index for January rose to an 11-year high of 98.2, from a final reading of 93.6 for December.

Leading apparel manufacturer Kellwood has named ex-Barnes & Noble chief financial officer Joseph Lombardi as CEO.

Lombardi joined Kellwood as CFO in 2013, and has three decades of retail experience across a variety of sectors, including apparel.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – In a move that was somewhat expected, The Wet Seal Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move comes a week after the struggling teen retailer said it was closing 338 of its stores, leaving it with approximately 173 stores nationwide.

“After careful consideration, the Board of Directors unanimously concluded that filing for Chapter 11 was the appropriate course of action for the Company,” said CEO Ed Thomas.

Talk about ripping off the Band-Aid. Target Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell moved swiftly and decisively in deciding to exit Canada, however his actions aren’t without precedent.

Big Lots took similar action after it entered Canada and last fall, a month after Cornell took the helm, the prospects of Target’s exist from the market were explored in the third quarter edition of Retailing Today’s Target Supplier News publication. This is that story:

Minneapolis – Target is calling its quits in Canada. The retailer said is closing down its troubled Target Canada business. The chain previously indicated it would review its Canadian subsidiary, which launched with great fanfare in March 2013, after the 2014 holiday season.

New York -- Staples chairman and CEO Ron Sargent will not accept a $31,000 base pay raise the board of directors had previously approved as the chain comes off a not-so-great year.

The company announced that Sargent would not accept the 2.5% pay increase, along with several noteworthy governance moves, including the appointment of an independent chair when Sargent retires.

In other board moves, current director and former Toys “R” Us CEO Robert Nakasone is relinquishing his seat to make room for a Google executive.