Retail

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway has appointed Barry Libenson as senior VP and CIO, effective July 1, 2013. Libenson replaces former Safeway CIO David Ching, who retired earlier this year. He will oversee IT business functions and report to executive VP Larree Renda.

Libenson previously served as senior VP and CIO at Land O’Lakes Inc. since 2010. Other positions he has held include VP of business at Ingersoll-Rand and executive VP at Surety.com.

GLEN ARM, Md. — Plus-size retailer Ulla Popken is looking to engage existing customers while enticing new ones to check out its e-commerce site via an online campaign that celebrates women of all sizes.

The series of just-released videos encourages potential shoppers to dress in a manner that reflects their personalities.

SEATTLE — Paladino and Company (Paladino), a sustainability and green building consulting firm, has been selected as a winner of Verizon’s 2013 Supplier Recognition Award in the green and sustainability category. The award was given in recognition of Paladino’s overall green strategic focus and longtime partnership in Verizon’s retail store volume program, which resulted in 71 Verizon Wireless stores becoming LEED certified in 2012 and more than 130 total LEED certifications through the end of 2012.

BLOOMINGDALE, Ill. -- Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO) continues to grow its network of tire and automotive service centers across the United States, with a projected total of 45 new retail locations this year. The company currently owns and operates a total of 2,222 stores.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Genesco, a specialty footwear and apparel retailer operating numerous brick-and-mortar and online retail brands including Journeys and Lids.com, reported declines in earnings and net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

The company’s earnings declined 11% to $18.5 million from $20.8.

Net sales decreased 1.5% to $591 million from $600 million. Same-store sales fell 4%. Earnings remained slightly ahead of the company’s expectations.

New York -- When retailers discuss a social media strategy, they usually mean something involving reaching out to customers through popular social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. And while that is an important marketing technique to engage modern consumers, social media can also serve as a powerful internal communications and engagement platform. For example, quick service hamburger chain Red Robin uses the Yammer enterprise social network to directly link employees to senior management and each other in real time.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club will host free health screenings from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 8, for Men’s Health Month. 

Sam's Club will offer the free screenings at all 565 stores of its stores that have pharmacies. The screenings include screenings for prostate cancer, as well as thyroid tests for women, blood pressure tests, body mass index and vision tests.

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending dropped 0.2% in April 2013, according to the Commerce Department.

It was the first monthly decline since May of last year and follows increases of 0.1% in March and 0.8% in February. Falling gas prices in April were part of the reason for the drop in spending, with purchases of gas, electricity and other energy goods and services down 4.4%.

In addition, increased Social Security deductions in consumer paychecks may have also contributed to the decline in spending.