Corporate Governance

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart is launching an initiative to increase the amount of fresh produce on its shelves. The effort includes buying produce directly from growers for immediate shipment to stores, performing independent weekly fresh produce checks at stores and providing fresh produce training for associates.

Topeka, Kan. -- Popular industry wisdom holds that channel alignment is mainly for the benefit of the consumer, who desires a seamless retail experience and does not want have to start from scratch every time they engage with a retailer via a new channel. While this holds true, channel alignment is also a crucial strategic and tactical necessity for back-end operations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched the Food Waste Challenge to encourage people to reduce, recover and recycle food waste. 

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance, made up of leading food retail, food manufacturing and foodservice companies, issued the following statement:

New York -- Debra Jensen, CIO of Charlotte Russe, will share how this 500-store fashion retailer leverages real-time POS data to make decisions that drive profitable growth in a Chain Store Age Webinar on June 6, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).

Hear how SAP HANA-based analytics is providing Charlotte Russe with up-to-the-moment, early indicators of sales velocity, margin and inventory position as well as other key metrics. To register, click here.

New York -- RKF said it has arranged the sale of an 18,850-sq.-ft. mixed-use building located at 138 Spring St. in Manhattan's SoHo district.

The building encompasses 2,000 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 2,600 sq. ft. on the lower level, all occupied by high-end eyewear retailer ILORI. The balance consists of 14,250 sq. ft. of full-floor commercial loft space.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot has reached an agreement to sell its 50% stake in Office Depot de Mexico S.A. de C.V. to its joint venture partner Grupo Gigante, S.A.B. de C.V. for roughly $690 million in cash.

Office Depot de Mexico, which was founded in 1994 as a joint partnership between Office Depot and Grupo Gigante, has more than 248 stores throughout Mexico and Central America and more than $1.1 billion in annual sales.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. has appointed Sharon Price John, 49, as CEO, effective immediately. John, who previously served as president of Stride Rite Children’s Group, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, succeeds company founder Maxine Clark, who is retiring as CEO. Clark will remain on the board of directors.

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble’s Always feminine care brand has announced the launch of its “Give a Girl a Break” initiative that aims to turn filmmaking passions into careers for a group of aspiring young women.