Events

NEW YORK — Avon has announced that nonexecutive chairman Fred Hassan has resigned his position after just four months so he can focus on other professional commitments.

Hassan serves as a nonexecutive chairman of Bausch + Lomb and is a managing director and partner at Warburg Pincus LLC. He also serves on Time Warner’s board.

New York -- Consumer confidence dropped in April to a three-month low amid discouraging economic indicators, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.  

The index fell 2.8% in April to 76.4 from 78.6 a month earlier. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey was 73.5 after a preliminary April reading of 72.3.

The Michigan survey’s current conditions index, which measures Americans’ view of their personal finances, fell to 89.9 in April from 90.7 last month.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General will benefit a nonprofit outreach program focused on blood clots, the discount store chain said.

Dollar General announced it would match the $2,000 donation that NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Brian Vickers made to Clot Connect. Vickers was diagnosed in early 2010 with blood clots that forced him to miss the remainder of the season and worked with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill physicians and Clot Connect to make informed decisions on his healthcare.

Huntington Beach, Calif. -- Bruxie announced that it opened its fifth waffle restaurant, with a new unit in Southern California in Huntington Beach on April 23.

Bruxie Gourmet Waffles opened at The Strand on 5th, a collection of shops and restaurants, boutique hotel and office space. Other key retail tenants to the coastal attraction include RA Sushi, Forever 21, Skechers, Active Ride, Rip Curl, Merrilee’s Swimwear, Johnny Rockets, ANGL, and CVS Pharmacy.
 

New York -- Children’s apparel retailer Carter’s has celebrated the grand opening of its newest New York store at The Shops at SkyView Center in Flushing, Queens.

Located on Level B across from Chuck E. Cheese’s, Carter’s held an official ribbon cutting ceremony to formally launch the new space.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NACDS Annual Meeting concluded with the board of directors dinner and the annual presentation of the industry’s lifetime achievement awards.

Renamed the Sheldon W. Fantle Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 in honor of People’s Drug Stores’ Bud Fantle, the award was originally established in 1989 to recognize exceptional accomplishments and contributions to the industry.

Receiving the award this year were Bob Loeffler, former CEO of H-E-B and past NACDS chairman, and Chain Drug Review editor David Pinto.

New York -- Chain Store Age is pleased to announce that Dan Berthiaume has joined the staff as senior editor, technology.  

Berthiaume, who started covering retail technology in 1998, brings a wealth of experience to his new position. He served as corporate content manager of Retail Systems AlertGroup from 1998 to 2006, writing and editing the company's retail tech publications and overseeing its website, and then moved on to a successful freelance career, reporting on technology for a variety of print and online publications.

BOSTON, Mass. — Consensus and the world’s largest exchange company, NASDAQ OMX Group, have announced keynote speakers, presenters and special presentations for the third annual Next Great Consumer Brands Conference to be held May 1 at the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square, N.Y.