Events

New York City -- The National Retail Federation said Wednesday that it has named five additional retail executives to its board of directors. Each new member, announced during NRF’s101st Annual Convention and Expo in New York, will serve a three-year term.

New York City -- Former president Bill Clinton delivered a keynote address entitled “Embracing Our Common Humanity” to an overflow crowd Monday morning at the National Retail Federation’s 101st Annual Convention & Expo in New York.

In his speech, Clinton spoke about the inequality, instability and the unsustainable way of life which makes up the world today, and said there remains a strong connection between social opportunity and economic opportunity.

New York City -- According to a survey released Tuesday by the NRF Foundation and American Express, Amazon.com has the best customer service among U.S. retailers.

The seventh annual Customers’ Choice survey, conducted by BIGinsight and polling 9,374 shoppers, saw the same group of retailers occupy the Top 10 spots in the poll, with some place-switching.

New York City -- The Grupo Pao de Acucar, the largest retailer in South America, has selected the SAP Carbon Impact OnDemand solution to monitor and manage carbon emissions and energy consumption in each of its 1,832 stores. The solution, from SAP, will help the group, long recognized as a sustainability leader for retailers both in Latin America and globally, to more effectively control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase the data quality of environmental reports submitted to financial and sustainability regulatory agencies.

SAN FRANCISCO — In an effort to help the thousands of troops returning home from serving overseas, Banana Republic has announced “Our Duty to You,” a program created to help military personnel prepare for their next professional opportunities. 

New York City -- A new global standard for retail payments designed to help exchange data between payment terminals and POS terminals and support new payment technologies has been released by the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) and EPASOrg, which sets card payment standards in Europe.

NEW YORK — Retail industry sales are expected to rise, albeit not at the same pace as 2011, according to the National Retail Federation.

Retail industry sales will rise 3.4% to $2.53 trillion, NRF said, compared with a pace of 4.7% in the year-ago period. The expected slowdown in consumer spending, NRF said, will be influenced by a number of factors, including stalled unemployment rate and lack of newly-created jobs. But despite the lower projection, the industry is expected to garner stronger numbers than other industries, NRF said.

New York City -- National Retail Federation officials said Monday that a record crowd of 24,000 attendees is expected to converge on its 101st Annual Convention & Expo, which kicked off Sunday at the Jacob J. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The exhibit floor officially opens on Monday.