Marketing

Michael Romanko was named Executive Vice President of Merchandising at discount retailer Five Below, reporting to President Joel Anderson.

Cincinnati -- In response to changes in “where the customer is headed,” Macy’s chief announced on Thursday a sweeping reorganization plan that will close 14 under-performing stores, lay off thousands of workers and, most far-reaching, ready the retailer to respond to an omnichannel shopping environment.

Bartell Drugs has selected former REI executive Brian Unmacht as its new president.

Prior to joining the 63-store pharmacy retailer, Unmacht served as REI’s EVP and CEO. He has served as a member of Bartell Drugs’ board of directors since 2011.

Bartell Drugs’ chairman and CEO George D. Bartell said that filling the position at the family-owned company supports future succession plans as it celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2015. Bartell Drugs is the oldest and largest family-owned drug store chain in the United States.

Regional discounter Fred’s strong pharmacy sales weren’t enough to help the company avert a 1.4 percent same store sales decline for the month.

Secaucus, N.J. – The Children’s Place Inc. has authorized a new $100 million share repurchase, with the goal of returning excess capital to shareholders. During the past five years, Children’s Place has returned more than $487 million to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

Camp Hill, Pa. - Rite Aid Corp. has promoted Jocelyn Zazyczny Konrad, currently VP, healthcare initiatives, to group VP, pharmacy initiatives and clinical services. Konrad succeeds Karen Staniforth, who was recently promoted to the role of COO at Health Dialog, a subsidiary of Rite Aid.

Philadelphia -- Teen value retailer Five Below has named Michael Romanko as its executive VP of merchandising, charged with overseeing merchandising strategy and operations. Romanko, who officially assumes the role on Jan. 19, will report to president Joel Anderson.

Hers may not be a household name among Walmart suppliers, but few of the retailer’s executives have as much of an impact on the daily lives of trading partners as Suja Chandrasekaran.

As Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Walmart, Chandrasekaran leads the technology and data transformation underway at Walmart that is referred to as Retail Link 2.0. The information sharing system known as Retail Link was pioneered by Walmart more than two decades ago and today is used extensively by suppliers for all manner of supply chain applications.