Mass Merchant

The Walmart Foundation’s Colorado State Giving Program has awarded $321,000 to eight Colorado nonprofits that are helping to fund local programs to improve education, women’s economic empowerment, healthy eating and fighting hunger.

The organizations include We Don’t Waste, Lapuente Home, Care and Share, Kids Aid, Project Angel Heart, Women’s Resource Agency, Broadway Assistance Center and Discover Goodwill of Southern and Western Colorado.

Claudine McKenzie has been working in the retail industry with Walmart for more than 17 years. Her career path has given her the opportunity to grow from a part-time sales clerk to a store manager all while obtaining her bachelor’s degree and working on a master’s degree.

In this latest installment of “This Is Retail,” an initiative of the National Retail Federation designed to showcase the industry’s diverse career opportunities, McKenzie shares her story.

New York -- Kmart will shutter two locations in the Philadelphia area this spring, Philadelphia Business Journal said. The locations, at The Gallery and at 900 Orthodox St., will close in late April.

Meijer customers donated more than $510,000 during the company’s holiday Simply Give campaign, helping food pantries throughout the Midwest restock their shelves.

Combined with a donation from Meijer, the holiday campaign raised more than $1.2 million, making it the most successful campaign since Simply Give began in November 2008.

Wayfair, the largest online retailer of home furnishings and décor, has appointed Christiane Lemieux as executive creative director.

In her new role, Lemieux, previously founder and creative director of DwellStudio, will provide creative vision and counsel across the company’s growing portfolio of home brands, including Wayfair.com, AllModern, Joss & Main and DwellStudio. Lemieux will be responsible for developing new creative initiatives for Wayfair in the coming year.

Stein Mart has elected Burton M. Tansky to the company's board of directors. Tansky was with Neiman Marcus for 23 years, retiring as president and CEO in 2010.

Before being named as CEO for the Neiman Marcus Group in 2001, Tansky was president and CEO of Neiman Marcus Stores. Prior to this he served as CEO of Bergdorf Goodman, a division of the Neiman Marcus Group, and as president of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Beachwood, Ohio — Nordstrom Rack will open locations at Lake Brandon Plaza in Brandon, Fla., and Harbison Court in Columbia, S.C., this fall. DDR Corp. owns and manages both centers.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is the latest major retailer to announce it will stop offering health insurance to its part-time employees. In a company blog post on Jan. 21, Target said it will no longer provide health insurance coverage to part time workers after April 1, 2014.