L'Oreal

Carpinteria, Calif. – America’s love affair with credit cards continues heating up. According to The Nilson Report, purchase volume at merchants for general purpose-type consumer and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in the U.S. totaled $4.91 trillion in 2014, up 8.4% from 2013.

Credit cards increased their market share in purchase volume compared to debit and prepaid cards to 53.59% in 2014, up from 52.95% in 2013.

Waban, Mass. - Chick-fil-A took the second spot in the annual Temkin Customer Service Ratings, tops among all retailers and food service chains. Other retailers and food service companies in the top 12 include Aldi, Trader Joe's, Publix, Panera Bread, H-E-B, Amazon.com, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Supermarkets, retailers, and banks, as an industry, earned average ratings of "strong.” Retailers RadioShack and Sears were ranked at least 15 points below retail industry average.

Skechers USA Inc. is making a big donation to support children affected by the earthquake in Nepal.

The company says it will give more than 62,000 pairs of new shoes to children in that nation. The company has distributed 11 million pairs of shoes to children in need worldwide since its BOBS charitable program launched in 2011.

New York - L'Oreal USA is announcing the first measured results of its global sustainability program, Sharing Beauty With All. By 2020, the company pledges that 100% of products will have an environmental or social benefit and 100% of strategic suppliers will be evaluated on their social and environmental performance.

New York – Retailers Amazon.com, HSN, Newegg, QVC and Zappos.com were among the 15 companies receiving the highest ratings in the 2015 Forrester Research Customer Experience Index. Forrester data indicates that improving the customer experience is a strategic priority for 73% of businesses, yet only 1% of companies deliver an excellent customer experience.

Merchandising and marketing concepts such as shoppable videos, digitized stores and social campaigns on Instagram and Twitter were alien ideas to retailers just a few years ago. Not anymore, according to Tom Ebling, CEO of cloud-based e-commerce solutions provider Demandware, who has a unique perspective on what it means to be a “connected brand.”

Walmart is looking to increase its support of community food programs with a new "Fight Hunger. Spark Change." campaign this spring.

The national initiative will invite the public to take action in the fight against hunger. Working with some of the nation’s leading food companies –- Campbell’s, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft, and Unilever–- Walmart is offering the 140 million customers that shop at its stores each week three easy ways to help families in need in their local communities.

New York -- RKF has arranged a 1,560-sq.-ft. lease with international high-end fashion retailer IRO at 241 Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side in New York City. This will be the second Manhattan store for the French apparel brand, known for its mixing of luxury fabrics with casual street style.

The transaction was arranged by RKF’s executive VP Joshua Strauss and associate Taryn Talmadge, who represented IRO, while the building ownership was represented by RKF executive VP Ariel Schuster and managing director Brandon Eisenman.