L.L. Bean, Inc.

Freeport, Maine -- L.L. Bean announced it will implements free standard shipping to all United States and Canadian addresses effective March 25.

“We tested free shipping offers with no minimum purchase for several months and the customer response was overwhelming,” said Chris McCormick, president and CEO, L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine. “It’s our opportunity to offer free shipping for all U.S. and Canadian customers with no minimum purchase, no end date, no conditions -- guaranteed.”

DALLAS -- Zale Corp. announced that Jeannie Barsam has been named SVP merchandise planning and allocation, and Toyin Ogun has been named SVP human resources and customer service.

“Jeannie and Toyin add both critical experience and depth to our leadership team,” said Theo Killion, CEO. “These appointments exemplify the strategic investments we are making in organizational capability to drive our turnaround initiatives.”

Dallas -- Zale Corp. announced that Jeannie Barsam has been named senior VP merchandise planning and allocation. She was most recently senior VP planning, allocation and company planning for Charlotte Russe.

In other appointments, Zale named Toyin Ogun as senior VP human resources and customer service. Prior to that, he was senior VP human resources, L.L. Bean.

By Katherine Oberle and Monica Sloboda, [email protected], [email protected]

On November 18, 2010, the U.S. Green Building Council announced the long-awaited launch of its newest green building rating system, LEED for Retail. There are two distinct certification tracks available, LEED for Retail: New Construction and LEED for Retail: Commercial Interiors. 

Target took the 21st spot out of a list of 46 retailers ranked for their customer service. Zappos.com took the top spot followed by Amazon.com and LL Bean. Walmart was ranked 27.

Other retailers in the top ten include Overstock.com (4), JCPenney (6) and Kohl's (7).

Amazon and Netflix are the top scorers in terms on online customer satisfaction, according to the sixth annual ForeSee Results E-Retail Satisfaction Index (U.S. Holiday Edition). Both had a score of 86 on the study’s 100-point scale, with 80 generally considered the threshold for excellence. Here are the study’s top performers:

New York City -- The National Retail Federation on Friday released its 2010 list that annually ranks the 10 stores with the best customer service.

The list is based on surveys of more than 9,000 shoppers, all asked the following question: “Thinking of all the different retail formats (store, catalog, Internet or home shopping), which retailer delivers the best customer service?”

In total, the NRF ranked 46 stores, and will release the complete list in January.

New York City - According to the Brand Keys Holiday Survey, released Tuesday, Amazon topped the marketing research consultancy’s list of the top 10 retailers based on customer visits.

Walmart and Apple tied for second, followed by Target, Zappos, Best Buy and Dell, Kohls, Overstock and QVC, Lands End and L.L. Bean, J.C. Penney, and Macy’s.