Corporate Governance

MINNEAPOLIS — Pete Van Helden, EVP retail operations for Supervalu, will be leaving the company this spring. Taking his place will be Kevin Holt.

"This was a mutually beneficial decision that comes at the right time for both Supervalu and Van Helden, as the company continues to implement its business transformation strategy and as Van Helden moves on to opportunities that will better utilize his strengths," the company stated in a release.

NEW YORK — It’s looking like Walmart’s upcoming annual meeting is going to be a bittersweet affair as the company observes its 50th anniversary against the backdrop of an unfolding Mexican bribery scandal and an appeal from a major shareholder this week urging a no vote on five board members.

The seventh annual Best Companies for Leadership Study conducted by the global consulting firm the Hay Group ranked Walmart eighth.

Walmart’s eighth  place ranking on the top 20 list is one notch better than the prior year, but slightly below the company’s 6th place ranking in 2009 when it made the list for the first time.

After the pounding Walmart and its president and CEO Mike Duke have taken in recent weeks in the media over the alleged Mexican bribery and cover up scandal detailed by the New York Times, the company and its leader received some good news this week from the Network of Executive Women.

Cindy Davis, Walmart’s EVP global customer insights and analytics, is set to headline the second annual SHOP conference next week presented by MARS Advertising and the Center for Retailing Excellence in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

JCPenney on Thursday named Ken Hannah as its new CFO in the latest of a series of senior level personnel moves designed to aid in the company’s transformation.

Dallas -- J. C. Penney Co. said that Ken Hannah has been named CFO, effective May 7.

Hannah, who brings over 20 years of finance, operations and audit experience from a wide range of leading companies that include General Electric, Boeing and The Home Depot, has spent the last six years at MEMC Electronic Materials, where he served as president of solar energy, responsible for improving process discipline, simplifying the organization and reducing cost to drive growth in the company's solar business

Westlake Village, Calif. -- Academy Sports + Outdoors ranks highest in customer satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Sporting Goods Retailer Satisfaction Report. The inaugural report measures the overall sporting goods retailer customer satisfaction experience by examining five key factors: staff, cost, facility, merchandise and sales/promotions.

New York -- New York City Pension Funds is urging shareholders to vote against the re-election of Wal-Mart Stores CEO Mike Duke and four other board members out of concerns about the chain’s bribery investigation in Mexico, the Associated Press reported.

The pension group owns 5.6 million shares of Wal-Mart, which has more than 3.4 billion shares outstanding.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Body Central Corp. reported Thursday that net income for the first quarter rose to $5.9 million, from $5.4 million in the same period last year. Sales increased 11.8% to $82.7 million, and same-store sales dipped 1.4%.

The retailer, which operates 243 stores, said it is on track to open at least 35 stores in 2012.