Strategy

Men’s Wearhouse founder and ousted executive chairman George Zimmer released an open letter late Wednesday in which he addressed the manner in which the board portrayed him in a statement yesterday.

Zimmer flatly denies the board’s claims that he was an obstinate former CEO, determined to regain absolute control by pushing for the company to go private.

Sales in the convenience store industry advanced 2.7% during 2012, well below a prior year gain of 18.5%, as meaningful economic growth hampered results.

Kansas City, Mo. – Hallmark Cards has named Claire Hughes Johnson, VP at Google, to its board of directors. Johnson, who has been with Google since 2004, currently runs its Google Offers mobile-to-store business and also has led global online sales and the new products and solutions teams, as well as teams responsible for Gmail, Google Wallet and Google Apps. Before Google, Johnson’s experience includes serving as a management consultant.

DALLAS — 7-Eleven is looking to leverage social media this summer with a limited duration offer designed to generate traffic at the retailer’s more than 10,000 worldwide locations.

The announcement comes on the heels of Dunkin’ Donuts’ decision to focus more on its beverages and Starbucks’ announcement that it would be raising prices on select beverages. 

New York – Former Duane Reade CEO Anthony Cuti and CFO William Tennant failed in an attempt to have their 2010 convictions for securities fraud overturned. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a June 2010 federal jury decision to find Cuti and Tennant guilty of providing misleading earnings information to shareholders and private equity group Oak Hill Capital partners, which purchased Duane Reade in 2004, between 2000 and 2004.

MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills saw growth for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended May 26, thanks to new product offerings as well as established product lines.

The company reported net sales of $17.8 billion for fiscal 2013, an increase of 7% from 16.7 billion in fiscal 2012. 

Matthews, N.C. – A lawsuit filed against Family Dollar by Pipefitters Local No. 636 alleging that Family Dollar violated federal securities laws has been voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff. Family Dollar had petitioned to have the suit dismissed, but Pipefitters Local No. 636 abandoned its claims before the court made a ruling. Family Dollar said it did not pay any money or make any concessions in relation to the claim being dropped.