Events

NEWARK, Del. — The Produce Marketing Association has appointed Cathy Green Burns as the association’s president, effective December 1, as part of its continued restructuring of the senior leadership team. 

In her new role, Green Burns will focus initially on leading board and staff team development as well as lending her insight to business development activities. She will report to PMA CEO Bryan Silbermann, who previously held both president and CEO positions.

President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton visited Kanombe school in Kigali, Rwanda, to see the P&G Purifier of Water packets at work as part of Procter and Gamble’s Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action to provide clean drinking water to those who need it most. 

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation said the retail industry added 37,000 jobs in the month of July, with increases in general merchandise, food and beverage and building and garden supply stores.

Chesterfield, Mo. -- Taubman Centers announced the opening of Taubman Prestige Oulets, a new fashion outlet center, located in the western-St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield. The opening coincides with Missouri’s Tax-Free Weekend.

Scanbuy, Inc. released a quarterly trend report showing continued rapid growth of QR code and UPC mobile barcode scanning traffic. The report shows more than 21 million scans processed in the second quarter of 2013 — good news for retailers who are upgrading their mobile capabilities.

Berlin, N.J. — A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts will mark the opening of its new store at The Town Center at St. Lucie West with a week long grand opening celebration starting Aug. 4.

The 21,000-sq.-ft. store carries an arts and crafts merchandise assortment with more than 40,000 items.

A.C. Moore operates about 140 arts and craft stores along the East Coast.
 

NEW YORK — H&M has made a lot of its U.S. customers happy with the launch of its Shop Online store, namely those who prefer the convenience of online shopping over having to go to the retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores. 

The retailer also stands to reach new potential customers who don’t have a store anywhere near them, but are familiar with the brand. 

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market reported that its net income in the third quarter increased 21% to $142 million, better than analysts had expected. The company also sounded a bullish note about expansion.

Walter Robb, co-CEO, Whole Foods, said the company continues to gain market share and still sees the potential for 1,000 stores in the United States alone. It currently operates 355 U.S. locations.

Hayward, Calif. – Posiflex is unveiling a roadmap of new POS, digital signage and wireless terminals at the RetailNOW conference in Las Vegas next week. The products include the Posiflex HS All-in-One solution, a 10-inch POS touch-screen terminal including a three-inch printer that can be configured to include an MSR, smart card reader, fingerprint sensor and a range of secondary customer displays.

Alameda, Calif. — Trabocco, a new, independent chef-owned restaurant, will open this fall at Alameda South Shore Center, according to Jamestown, the center’s owner.

Founded by Chef Giuseppe Naccarelli, a native of Palombaro, Italy, and his wife, Christine, the 4,700-sq.-ft. restaurant will occupy a prominent position in Center Court, the 594,000-sq.-ft. center’s main plaza.