Labor & Employment

New York -- A bid to raise the federal minimum wage was rejected by Republicans in the Senate, who blocked legislation Wednesday to boost the rate to $10.10 an hour. Senators predominantly voted across party lines, which places Democratic senators in favor and Republican senators opposed.

The defeat was expected, and it is expected to serve as a rallying cry for Democrats preparing their next campaign.

The timing of the Easter holiday this year adversely affected first-quarter sales at Publix by 1.3% — Easter fell in the second quarter this year, rather than the first quarter as if did last year — but the company still posted a 4.1% increase to $7.8 billion from last year’s $7.5 billion.

Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 4%.

Ten years ago, demographic experts predicted a looming talent shortage: When the massive baby boom generation retired, the small Generation X would not have enough experienced leaders and managers to fill the positions that boomers would vacate.

Fort Worth, Texas – Pier 1 Imports (U.S.) Inc., a subsidiary of Pier 1 Imports Inc., has completed the amendment of its $350 million senior secured revolving credit facility and syndicated and closed a previously announced $200 million seven-year senior secured term loan B.

Proceeds from the $200 million term loan are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including, among other things, working capital needs, capital expenditures, cash dividends and repurchases of the company’s common stock.

Belk has entered into a multilayered partnership with the American Red Cross to aid those impacted by the recent storms that have swept through the southern United States.

As a part of the partnership, Belk will make a $100,000 contribution to help with immediate and long-term recovery efforts, and customers will have the opportunity to participate by donating to the fund on belk.com. In addition, Belk will work with the local American Red Cross chapters to provide store discounts to those affected by the storm.

Barely a week after leaving RadioShack, Troy Risch has landed on his feet at rival electronics retailer H.H. Gregg where he will serve as chief operating officer.

Risch will assume his new COO duties at H.H. Gregg May 5. He most recently served as EVP of store operations at RadioShack for 16 months, but left the company April 22. Assuming a leadership role at H.H. Gregg might seem like a potential violation of a non-compete agreement, closer inspection shows that H.H. Gregg and RadioShack don’t have that much in common from a product assortment standpoint.

Longtime Hallmark executive Michael Goodwin was named chief information officer at the nation’s largest pet specialty retailer.

Goodwin will become SVP and CIO at PetSmart effective June 2, after previously serving as SVP and CIO of technology and business enablement at Hallmark, a $4 billion company with more than 2,600 stores and an extensive online presence. PetSmart operates 1,333 stores.

Indianapolis – Hhgregg Inc. has hired Troy H. Risch as COO. Risch joins Hhgregg from RadioShack, where he served as executive VP of store operations.

Prior to this, Risch held a variety of operational leadership positions with Target Corp., including executive VP of stores. Risch will assume the COO position on May 5, 2014.