Labor & Employment

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot has nominated former president and CEO of Collective Brands Michael J. Massey to its board. If elected, he would fill the vacancy created by current director Brenda Gaines, who has decided not to stand for re-election at this year’s annual meeting of stockholders. 

Toronto -- A "Sears Hometown" store owner in Woodstock, Ontario (Canada), has launched a class action lawsuit on behalf of approximately 260 Sears Hometown dealers across Canada against Sears Canada and its American affiliate, Sears. Both are subsidiaries of Sears Holding Corp.

The lawsuit alleges that Sears lowered dealers' commissions, reduced advertising for local stores and bypassed the franchises by selling directly to customers who are located within their markets.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot announced that Michael J. Massey, previously CEO and president of Collective Brands, has been nominated to join the board. He fills the vacancy created by current director Brenda Gaines, has decided not to stand for reelection at this year’s annual meeting of stockholders.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation's president and CEO Matthew Shay and chief economist Jack Kleinhenz have issued a statement concerning June's employment numbers, released by the Department of Labor.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Honeywell chairman and CEO Dave Cote has been named CEO of the Year by Chief Executive Magazine. Cote will be featured on the cover of the magazine’s July issue as well as on ChiefExecutive.net.

The award recognizes the transformation of Honeywell under Cote’s leadership throughout the past decade. During that time, Honeywell has increased sales by 71% to $37.7 billion and has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 during that timeframe.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kid Brands' EVP and COO Kerry Carr is about to take on a third title at the company as its new CFO. The news comes amid the company's announcement that it has sold the Russ and Applause brands to Larsen and Bowman Holdings for $1.25 million.

Carr replaces James Christl, whose resignation for personal reasons from his position as SVP and CFO has been accepted by the company.

Columbus, Ohio -- Glimcher Realty Trust has announced the appointment and election of Victor Pildes as senior VP development. He will provide leadership in project management and design, strategic planning and overall direction for all new development and redevelopment activities.

With 25 years of development and project management experience, Pildes comes to Glimcher from Centrum Partners LLC, where he served as VP and consultant. He has also served in senior executive positions at Westfield and JMB/Urban Retail Properties Company.

Meriden, Conn. – Vestis Retail Group, parent company of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), has named James Petty as CEO effective July 8, 2013. Petty most recently served as president of retail stores for Cartier Inc. from 2007 to December 2012 and left the company after it relocated its retail group headquarters from Connecticut to Georgia. He also previously held executive positions at Limited Too and Gap Inc.