Corporate Governance

New York -- Brooks Brothers today announced that Mary Pytko has joined the company as its new executive VP of global human resources.

Pytko has held leadership roles at companies including American Express and Lord & Taylor. Most recently she was senior VP, human resources at the Thomson Reuters Corporation.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Consumer confidence in October fell to a 10-month low, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. Industry experts said the drop showed that even the reopening of the federal government was not enough to reassure nervous consumers.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index decreased to 73.2, the weakest this year, down from 77.5 in September.

More Marketing News

New York -- Putting social media functions entirely within control of marketing and communications is a mistake, according to a new study conducted by Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, of over 60. Forty-five percent of respondents in North America said marketing controls social media, but most companies aren’t satisfied with this structure.

Atlanta -- Among the affluent households, the average expenditure for December holiday gifts in 2013 is estimated to be $2,175 down 2.8% from 2012, according to a new survey of the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households by the American Affluence Research Center. However, affluent households spent in 2012 almost 7% more than they had anticipated in the 2012 survey, supporting the premise that people often tend to spend more for gifts than they had planned.
 

Caty, N.C. – Consumers have somewhat contradictory desires for greater data privacy and for businesses to have detailed insight into their personal needs, and also have seen improvement in how businesses use personal data. According to a new study from analytics technology provider SAS, 71% of 1,260 respondents surveyed said that recent news about government access to personal data increased their privacy concerns.

Boston -- For the second year in a row, Dollar General came out on top in Kantar Retail’s opening price point (OPP) survey, narrowly beating out Walmart Supercenter. The OPP survey, now in its third year, determines how select retailers meet the grocery and consumable needs of shoppers looking for the lowest shelf prices to fulfill their basket requirements.

Starbucks Corp. unveiled its new retail format, Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar, with the debut location opening on Manhattan's  East Side. The store features a wide variety of hot brewed and iced teas, tea fusion beverages and  tea-related merchandise. It also offers a range of food items, from salads to flatbreads to pastries and other baked goods, with a bakery-like presentations.

New York -- Amazon.com narrowed its loss in the third quarter and posted a better-than-expected 25% increase in sales. The online giant reported a net loss of $41 million, down from $274 million in the year-ago period, in line with expectations.

Amazon reported revenue of $17.1 billion, beating expectations by about 2% on strong sales growth, particularly in the U.S. market.

New York -- The former chief marketing officer of Kohl’s, Julie Gardner, has joined the board of Cardtronics, which operates more than 80,000 ATMs at locations throughout the United States and internationally.

Gardner spent 14 years at Kohl’s and most recently served as executive VP and chief marketing officer. Prior to Kohl’s, Gardner was with the Eckerd Corp., a regional drugstore chain that was eventually acquired by CVS.

Cleveland - The Sherwin-Williams Company increased net income 12%, to $262.97 million from $234.95 million, during the third quarter of fiscal 2013.

Net sales grew 9.4% to $2.85 billion from $2.6 billion.