Labor & Employment

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the industry to raise an eyebrow when the S&P Retail Index notched an all-time high last month. Closing at $669.26 on September 14th to reach that milestone, the index has continued to creep up even further the last couple of weeks. A closer look at the stock market performance of the retail sector shows that both REITs and many individual retailers are continuing a strong positive trend—which makes sense, of course, because REITs will perform better in a strong retail environment when retailers are doing well.

WILTON, Conn. — Beiersdorf, the U.S. subsidiary of Beiersdorf AG — a global skin care company based in Hamburg, Germany — has announced the appointment of Bill Graham as president and general manager of Beiersdorf North America.

Graham previously served as president and general manager of Beiersdorf. His new role includes leadership of both the United States and Canadian business units.
 
Graham was promoted to the position of general manager of Beiersdorf in August 2011, after joining the company as VP sales in 2007.

New York -- The Conference Board Employment Trends Index decreased again in September, following a downward revision in August. The index now stands at 107.86, down from the revised figure of 108.23 in August. The September figure is 5.4% higher than a year ago.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway SVP human resources, Russ Jackson, has been named by Human Resource Executive magazine to the 2012 HR Honor Roll. Jackson will be recognized by the publication on Oct. 9 at a black tie awards dinner at the University Club of Chicago.

"Russ is a transformational architect within Safeway," said Safeway EVP, Larree Renda. "With his vision, insight and drive for results, he has built a human resources organization that is a powerful accelerator of change."

New York -- More than half (53%) of middle market executives believe that their companies are on solid ground, according to a survey by CIT Group Inc., a leading provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies. (In order to be eligible to participate in the survey, respondents had to be in a leadership role at firms with revenues between $25 million and $1 billion, the majority of whose employees were based in the United States.)

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. — Wet Seal merchandising executive, Harriet Sustarsic has left the company to become SVP, general merchandise manager for True Religion Brand Jeans.

Sustarsic was serving as division chief merchandising officer and will remain with the company until Oct. 19 to assist with the transition. Kim Bajrech and Debbie Shinn have assumed senior leadership of the Wet Seal merchandising organization, which they previously shared on an interim basis from November 2009 through November 2011.

Foothills Ranch, Calif. -- The chairman of The Wet Seal and three other directors have stepped down from its board, replaced by four nominees of the Clinton Group. The move follows several attempts by the activist investor group, which holds about 7% of Wet Seal, to take control of the struggling retailer.

As a result of the board changes, Clinton Group has agreed to terminate its effort to get support from shareholders for its nominees, Wet Seal said Friday.

A small group of Walmart employees at a Southern California store staged a one day walk out some have been quick to label as a strike. The New York Times details what happened and Walmart’s response. Click here.