Marketing

Plano, Texas -- Reporting to Joel Mussat, executive VP and chief omnichannel officer, Rent-A-Center, Ian Cohen has been charged with working cross-functionally to create a seamless approach to the consumer experience across a variety of shopping channels. His responsibilities include the design, development, and implementation of a digital-commerce solution that ensures customer demands are met.

Maybelline New York is rolling out the welcome wagon for Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima, who served as global spokesperson once before, from 2003-2009.

Lima rejoins current spokeswomen Christy Turlington, Emily DiDonato, Jourdan Dunn and Marloes Horst.  

Camp Hill, Pa. – Rising drug costs and falling reimbursements, as well as higher income tax expense, significantly cut into profits at Rite Aid Corp. Net income dropped 55% to $41.4 million in the first quarter, from $91 million in the year-ago period. Its earnings matched analysts' expectations.
 
Improving pharmacy sales helped drive a 3% increase in revenue to $6.47 billion from $6.29 billion, above Wall Street projections. Same-store sales rose 3.1%. Rite Aid maintained its fiscal 2015 earnings and revenue predictions.

American Standard Brands president and CEO Jay Gould was appointed to the board of directors of American Standard’s parent company, LIXIL Corporation.

Gould joined American Standard Brands in January 2012.

According to the company, Gould executed a plan that quadrupled the company's EBITA, grew sales by 10% and improved gross margins by 700 basis points.

Los Angeles -- Apparel retailer American Apparel Inc. has fired its controversial founder Dov Charney as chairman, effective immediately, and has moved to fire him as CEO and president. The actions come on the heels of an ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct by Charney, who has been targeted in sexual harassment lawsuits and charged with allegations of misconduct for years.

AutoZone shares have traded above $500 for most of the year but the company remains an aggressive purchaser of its own stock and recently authorized the expenditure of $750 million to buy even more shares.

The recent authorization brings the total amount the company has spent buying back stock to $14.9 billion since the program began in 1998. AutoZone does not pay a dividend.

Scarborough, Maine -- Cole Haan is opening a flagship location in the Ginza, Tokyo's premier shopping district. The 2,000-sq.-ft. store debuts the company’s global format. Cole Haan also plans to use the store as a launching point for growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Architecture firm Anderson Architects in New York led the design of the ground-floor store, in partnership with local architects Garde Co.