Labor & Employment

Dallas -- Zale Corp. said Wednesday that it has named Thomas A. Haubenstricker as senior VP and CFO, effective Oct. 17.

Haubenstricker joins Zale from Turnberry Advisors where he served as a managing director.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- A report released Tuesday by Kronos said that the retail hiring levels have reached the highest mark in nearly three years. The Kronos Retail Labor Index, which characterizes the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, rose to 3.9% in September, reflecting a strong gain in hires and a modest decline in applications, all on a seasonally adjusted basis. (A level of 3.0% means that for every 100 applications received, three hires occurred).

New York City -- The Conference Board Employment Trends Index, released Tuesday, showed a decrease in September to 100.95, down from the revised figure of 101.37 in August. The September figure is up 4.4% from the same month a year ago.

New York City -- Former American Apparel CFO Adrian Kowalewski resigned as executive VP corporate strategy, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission this morning, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

Kowalewski entered into a separation agreement, in which he will receive an unpaid base salary through the Oct. 7 separation date, any unreimbursed expenses and vesting of the 1,066,666 unvested shares of restricted stock previously awarded to him, the report said.
 

New York City -- Gov. Jerry Brown of California vetoed a bill that would have required comprehensive economic-impact reports before big-box superstores could begin construction.

The bill, the Small and Neighborhood Business Protection Act, would have required supercenters to address more than a dozen possible economic side-effects, including job losses if competitors faltered.

Hudson, Ohio -- Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores said Monday it will increase its work force by more than 15% for the holiday season.

Tom Williams, senior VP human resources for Jo-Ann, announced the company has begun the seasonal recruiting process and will hire more than 3,000 additional employees before the holidays.

The company attributes the seasonal hiring to anticipation of increased traffic in stores through the holiday season.
 

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said Tuesday it has added two executives to its pharmacy, health and wellness division.

Dr. Jeffrey Kang will join the company on Oct. 31 as senior VP health and wellness services and solutions.

In addition, Mike Ellis has joined Walgreens as VP specialty pharmacy and infusion.

Most recently, Kang was chief medical officer at CIGNA. Ellis has served as senior VP specialty trade relations and contracting and pharmaceutical services for CVS Caremark.

CHICAGO — Sue Klug, president of the Southern California division of Supervalu, has been awarded the Bobbie O'Hare Award for outstanding service to the Network of Executive Women.

The departure last week of Target chief marketing officer and spearhead of the retailer’s entry into Canada, Michael Francis, was a significant development in the retail world, but someone forgot to tell the company’s suppliers.

On March 22, 2011, Canadian retailer tb!s The Bargain Shop named top American retail executive Beryl “Jack” Buley as its new president and CEO.  A week later, on March 29, I sat down with Buley to discuss his new position for our then-upcoming June/July issue.  Eight weeks later, he was dead.