Strategy

Walmart's efforts to open in New York City were helped last week when a new poll, released Friday, found that New Yorkers would shop at Walmart if one opened in the city. No kidding? Target is already there and New Yorkers love Target, so it stands to reason they will love Walmart too even though the companies offer a slightly different value proposition and Walmart comes with a lot more baggage.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Bausch + Lomb on Friday appointed a clinical professor of ophthalmology to serve as the company's first-ever chief medical officer.

As CMO, Calvin Roberts will coordinate B + L's research and development efforts across its vision care, pharmaceuticals and surgical business units.

Chicago -- Retailers and consumer product manufacturers who create and maintain a diverse workforce are more likely to increase innovation and meet consumer needs than those who don’t, according to a new report by the Network of Executive Women.

New York City -- American Apparel, which has yet to disclose certified financial results for 2009, has now delayed the filing of its 2010 annual report because it needs time to complete “reviews and analyses” of reports for both years. 

The troubled retailer, whose founder and CEO Dov Charney was recently accused in a $260 million suit of using a former employee as a sex slave, did admit it expects to register losses for 2010, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New York City -- British footwear and apparel retailer L.K. Bennett plans to open 30 to 40 stores in the United States during the next three to five years, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

The company will open its first U.S. stores this spring, with British footwear and apparel retailer L.K. Bennett plans to open 30 to 40 stores in the United States during the next three to five years, Women’s Wear Daily reported.locations in Chicago and Atlanta.

New York City -- Shoppers plan to wait until next year and beyond to spend generously again, a survey on Monday showed, in an early sign that rising gasoline prices could make the spring selling season tough for retailers, Reuters reported.

About three-quarters of Americans surveyed by America's Research Group said they were shopping less due to rising gas prices, with more than 62% of the participants planning to spend generously only next year or beyond.

New York City -- Finnish retailer Marimekko will open a flagship in Manhattan this fall. The company is also expanding its collaboration with Crate & Barrel.

The 4,000-sq.-ft. store will feature Marimekko’s wide-ranging product mix, which includes furnishings fabrics, home goods, apparel and accessories. It will be designed by the Japanese architectural firm IMA.

Columbus, Ohio -- Denny Gerdeman, principal and co-founder of Chute Gerdeman, a full-service retail branding and design firm, has been named the 2011 Markopoulos Award winner.

The prestigious honor, named after the late visual merchandising legend Andrew Markopoulos, is presented annually by DDI Magazine to one outstanding industry professional. In winning the award, Gerdeman is recognized for his distinguished career as well as his efforts to give back to the profession.

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft Corp. announced Monday that Target Corp. is running business-critical workloads for all its retail stores on 15,000 virtual machines using Microsoft virtualization and management technologies, giving its IT department greater agility and economies of scale. Target has virtualized inventory, point-of-sale, supply chain management, asset protection, in-store digital media and more on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center.

New York City -- Tiffany & Co. said fourth-quarter earnings rose 29% as net sales jumped 12% to $1.1 billion. The company earned $181.2 million in the quarter compared with $140.4 million in the year-ago period. The latest quarter includes from the pending relocation of Tiffany's New York headquarters staff.

For the full year, worldwide net sales increased 14% to $3.1 billion. Net earnings from continuing operations rose 39% to $368.4 million.