Marketing

Executives at Coach, Sherwin-Williams, Ross and TJX Companies were among the top wealth creators identified by Chief Executive magazine’s 5th annual Wealth Creation Index.

Lew Frankfort, CEO at Coach topped the list with Sherwin-Williams CEO Christopher Connor and AutoZone CEO William Rhodes, ranked 14th and 16th, respectively. Other top wealth creators included 27th ranked Ross Stores CEO Michael Balmuth and TJX CEO Carol Meyerowitz. Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Steven Temares was ranked 59th and Amazon.com CEO Jess Bezos was 75th.

Long time Fred Meyer executive Lynn Gust was named president of the 133 store Kroger division.

Gust, 59, joined Koriger in 1970 as a parcel clerk and most recently served as the company’s SVP of operations. Gust was appointed to that position in 2011 and prior to that he served as EVP of corporate merchandising and advertising. During his career Gust also served as vp of the Fred Meyer food group and SVP of store operations.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. announced the promotion of Lynn Gust as president of the company's Fred Meyer Stores division. Gust, 59, has been senior VP operations since 2011.

“Lynn's long history with Fred Meyer and deep knowledge of our business will serve our customers well,” said Rodney McMullen, president and COO of Kroger. “His passion for our employees and customers make him a great fit to carry on the Fred Meyer tradition.”

Restoration Hardware doesn’t operate many stores, but it is enjoying tremendous momentum at the ones it does operate.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — New York Mets baseball executive Paul DePodesta is the newest member of the Sears Holdings board.

Although his qualifications are somewhat unconventional, DePodesta was elected to the board because his experience as VP of player development and amateur scouting for the Mets is believe to help Sears Holdings in the area of personnel development.

Former Best Buy chairman Richard Schulze is reportedly close to reaching an agreement to buy the company he founded, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report citing a source close to the situation.

CHICAGO, Ill. — Brand development and deployment services provider Schawk has appointed Michael Larkin as its new VP of business development.

In his new role, Larkin will be responsible for driving business development activities at consumer packaged goods companies across North America, helping those companies drive top line growth and improve efficiency at the brand level. He will focus on developing relationships with new accounts.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pier 1 Imports expressed renewed confidence in its three-year growth plan following the release of third quarter results that same store sales advance 7.9%.

NEW YORK — Chobani Greek Yogurt is the recipient of the 2012 North America Innovation in Leadership award for its groundbreaking contribution to the U.S. yogurt sector, presented by Rabobank.

Grace Simmons, VP of strategic initiatives for Chobani, accepted the award at the global bank’s recent Commodity, Corporate, and Trade Finance Forum.

New York -- After nearly a year of steady gains, the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index (Index) fell in November due to a slowdown in the rise of new home prices and an accelerating decline in real wages. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.