Labor & Employment

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. announced Monday it has hired Edgar O. Huber as CEO and president of Lands' End.

Huber most recently was with Liz Claiborne, where he was the executive VP global business development. He will be based at Lands' End's home office in Dodgeville, Wis.
 

By Craig Rowley, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation announced that it is urging Congress to reach an agreement and raise the debt ceiling in order to avoid default.

NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay issued the following statement:

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. reported Thursday that it scored record results in the quarter ended July 3, prompting the retailer to accelerate its 2012 new store opening targets to 800 net new stores globally.

Starbucks grew profits 34% in the third quarter, to $279 million from $208 million in the year-ago period. Sales rose 12% to $2.9 billion from $2.6 billion, topping Wall Street estimates.

Same-store sales globally surged 8%, buoyed by a 6% increase in traffic and a 2% increase in average ticket.

TOANO, Va. — Lumber Liquidators second-quarter sales increased 4% to $175.5 million, up from $168.7 million in the same quarter last year.

But at comparable-stores decreased 7.9%, and net income decreased to $5.3 million in the second quarter, down from $9.1 million in the second quarter of the prior year. 

TOPEKA, Kan. — The desire for affordable, stylish shoes is something shared by U.S. and international consumers alike, which is why Collective Brands' Payless ShoeSource unit has been able to build a successful franchise business overseas. The company announced Thurday the opening of its 100th franchise store, which is located in Cirebon, Indonesia.  The store represents the 7th store in Indonesia to date.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- A Wednesday report by Bloomberg said that Wal-Mart Stores has named Morten Knudsen as CFO for Asia, as the retailer recasts its leadership roles in the region amidst top-heavy turnover.

Knudsen, who was previously VP for corporate finance in Asia for Danone, takes the financial chief spot for Wal-Mart Asia effective Sept. 1.

Since May, Walmart has lost Japanese chief Toru Noda and three of its top executives in China, including the CFO and COO Roland Lawrence and Rob Cissell, respectively.

Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO Mike Duke was on Capitol Hill this week making the case for modernizing the U.S. tax code even as Democratic and Republican lawmakers continued to engage in brinksmanship over what all agree is a disturbing level of national indebtedness. Duke testified before the United States Senate Committee on Finance, which was holding hearings on CEO perspectives on how the tax code affects hiring, businesses and economic growth. A transcript of his prepared remarks appears below:

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the Labor Department said that jobless claims for last week dropped by 24,000 to 398,000, the fewest since April.

Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 422,000 from an original reading of 418,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected new requests for jobless benefits to fall to 413,000 in the latest week.

Topeka, Kan. -- Collective Brands, parent to Payless ShoeSource, announced Thursday the opening of its 100th franchise store, which is located in Cirebon, Indonesia.

The store represents the seventh store in Indonesia to date and the overall rapid international expansion of the Payless store chain over the past two years through its franchise strategy.