Corporate Governance

It has been a rough start to the holiday season for the closeout retail sector. Building #19, a New England-based closeout chain that became something of a local institution, recently closed its doors after 50 years in business (though it plans to reopen a few locations as specialty rug stores). A few days later, national closeout powerhouse Big Lots reported disappointing financial results for the third quarter.

Office Depot plans to expand 3D Systems Cube 3-D printing services to 150 Office Depot stores nationwide as a result of positive customer feedback.

More Americans now say they are loosening the purse strings in advance of the holiday season, and fewer say they are tightening their belts, according to a recent Citi national survey.

Only 35% said they would be spending less than last year, reflecting the lowest level of holiday budget cutbacks since the financial crisis. As many as 63% of Americans plan to spend more (11%) or the same (52%) on holiday shopping this year.

Guthy-Renker, the company behind Proactiv and other wellness products, named Jay Sung to the role of chief marketing officer to lead a broad slate of initiatives at the direct marketing company.

Sung will report to Seth Radwell, Guthy-Renker’s co-president and chief revenue officer, and help the company pursue 2014 growth objectives for brands such as Proactiv+, Meaningful Beauty, WEN Haircare and Sheer Cover Studio.

Merchant Warehouse, a leading provider of payment technologies and merchant account services, has appointed Christopher Wuhrer as SVP, strategic initiatives and product marketing.

With more than 18 years of experience in payments, e-commerce and mobile technology, Wuhrer will be responsible for driving the product vision, direction and go-to market strategies for the company's product and service offerings.

Retailers were well represented on the 2013 edition of a best and worst CEOs list compiled by a business professor at a leading university.

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos topped the list of best CEOs, compiled by Sydney Finkelstein, associate dean for executive education and the Steven Roth professor of management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Making the list of worst CEOs were former J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson and current Sears Holdings chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert.

One year after beginning operation, two 415 foot tall wind turbines at SC Johnsons’ Mt. Pleasant, Wis., manufacturing facility are helping the facility generate 100% of its power needs on site.

The mammoth turbines are located at the company’s largest manufacturing facility known as “waxdale” which encompasses an area the size of 36 football fields. It’s where brands such as Glade, Windex, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Raid and OFF! are manufactured.

The race to improve customer convenience by leveraging smart e-commerce logistics in the supply chain is heating up in the U.S. and internationally. So far, the U.S. is ahead of the pack in e-commerce sales, raking in $351.8 billion during 2012, a full 33.7% of all e-commerce purchases worldwide, according to the new Jones Lang LaSalle Global E-Commerce Report.

New York -- Restoration Hardware Holdings said that co-CEO Carlos Alberini is resigning, effective January 31, to become the chairman and chief executive of Lucky Brand Jeans. The move comes just days after Fifth & Pacific Cos. entered into an agreement to sell Lucky Brand to private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from senior VP and general counsel Mallory Duncan in response to U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson’s approval of a controversial antitrust lawsuit over credit card swipe fees: