Marketing

Hhgregg has added Robert J. Riesbeck to its executive team as CFO, as part of the retailer’s continued focus on transforming the business.

Riesbeck has more than 25 years of experience in financial and operations management. Most recently, he served as operations executive/group CFO at Sun Capital Partners where he was responsible for financial and operations oversight of a diverse group of portfolio companies with combined revenues exceeding $5 billion.

The Vitamin Shoppe’s CEO Tony Truesdale plans to retire June 27, 2015, to spend more time with his family and his external board work.  

The board will start searching for a new CEO, who will be charged with implementing the next stages of the company's long-term growth plans. It will be considering internal and external candidates.

California's drought disrupted 99 Cents Only Stores’ ability to continually stock “right-priced” produce, which affected the company’s overall financial results for the second quarter. But despite the challenges, same-store sales in the quarter were positive.

The company's net sales for the quarter increased $25.1 million to $458.2 million, compared to $433.1 million in the prior-year quarter. Same-store sales increased 0.1%, calculated on a comparable 13-week period of the prior year.

Although Lululemon CEO Laurent Potdevin recognizes that there is still much to be done, he praised the company’s “meaningful” progress on building a scalable foundation for its next phase of global growth.

Net revenue for the quarter increased 13% to $390.7 million from $344.5 million in the second quarter last year.

Jacksonville, Fla. - Stein Mart is opening six new stores in fall 2014 as part of its 2014 store expansion plan that calls for  nine new locations, strategically selected in key growth markets, and seven relocations. The openings will bring the company's total nationwide store count to more than 270.

New York – Almost all retailers consider Big Data to be important, according to a new survey from Accenture Analytics. When asked how important is Big Data to their organization, 94% of retail executives answered “important,” 58% responded “extremely important,” and 36% responded “important.”

Woonsocket, R.I. - Mary Langowski has been named executive VP for strategy, policy and market development for CVS Health, effective Oct. 14. In this role, Langowski will direct CVS Health's strategy and market development functions, with a focus on identifying and expanding enterprise opportunities to new markets.

Her portfolio will also include leading the company's government affairs and policy development teams at the state and federal level, providing strategic counsel.

San Diego – For the month of August 2014, net sales at PriceSmart Inc. increased 7.3% to $206.7 million, from $192.6 million in August a year earlier. Same-store sales for the month increased 2.3%.

PriceSmart also announced the planned opening dates for the three warehouse clubs currently under construction in Colombia. The Bogota warehouse club is planned to open on Oct. 29; the Pereira warehouse club is planned to open on Nov. 13; and the Medellin warehouse club is planned to open on Nov. 26.

Boca Raton, Fla. - Jeffrey Smith, CEO of investment firm Starboard Value LLP, has resigned from Office Depot’s board of directors, effective immediately. The nominating and governance committee will commence a search for a replacement.

Smith, who joined the board in August 2013 to help Office Depot smoothly transition to a new combined company with OfficeMax and find a new CEO, said he is leaving because he is satisfied that Office Depot has reached both goals.

Philadelphia – Five Below plans to open a new distribution center in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, in 2015. The center will replace an existing 421,000-sq.-ft. facility located in New Castle, Delaware.

Five Below will occupy approximately 700,000 sq. ft. of the facility to start with, and plans to grow to one million sq. ft. over time. The new distribution center, which is expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2015, will support the company's continued growth and expansion on the East Coast.