Mass Merchant

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced today retail veteran Chris Capuano will join the company as senior VP and president -- Home Fashions. She will be responsible for the oversight, leadership and growth of the in-store and online merchandising of home fashions in both the Sears and Kmart formats.

Capuano most recently served as  executive VP GMM – Home and Footwear at Kohl's.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Kmart, LF USA and Latin World Entertainment Licensing announced the launch of a new lifestyle collection by renowned actress Sofia Vergara. Sold exclusively through Kmart, the collection will embody the "Modern Family" star's signature style of glamour and sexiness with an air of approachability, according to a press release.

The collection, which will include sportswear, dresses, handbags, jewelry, and footwear will be available at over 800 Kmart stores nationwide and Kmart.com beginning this fall.

NEW YORK — At a press event in New York on Wednesday, Pacific World and Walmart officially took the wraps off a new eco-friendly beauty line for tweens, aptly named GeoGirl.

The line, which has a suggested retail price between $3.98 and $5.98, is launching exclusively at about 1,250 Walmart stores and on Walmart.com beginning in March. The 69-SKU collection includes makeup for face, lips, cheeks and eyes, as well as skin and body care. A GeoGirl website is slated to launch Feb. 24.

Sherwin-Williams’ loss of the paint business at Walmart didn’t affect its fourth quarter results too bad, but will represent a nearly $100 million headwind for the coming year. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of nearly $72.9 million, up 11.6% from $65.3 million on sales that advanced nearly 19% to $1.9 billion during the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010. Sales in the consumer group, which includes such retailers as Walmart, increased 6.2% to $255 million in the quarter.

First it was Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon at the White House with First Lady Michelle Obama announcing a healthy food initiative that generated enormous amounts of favorable publicity for the company. Now we get word out of Europe that Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke and Walmart International president and CEO Doug McMillon not only attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, they hosted a breakfast meeting.

For the second consecutive year Walmart appears on an annual ranking of the Best Companies for Leadership compiled by the consulting firm Hay Group. In the 2010 version of the survey, Walmart ranked ninth, compared with the prior year when it was ranked fifth. The survey was first conducted in 2005.

Companies that ranked ahead of Walmart included, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Intel, Siemens, Banco Santander, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Accenture. 

New York City -- Walmart Canada, a unit of Wal-Mart Stores, announced that it plans to open 40 additional supercenters in its upcoming fiscal year (which runs from Feb.1, 2011 to January 31, 2012). The company is investing approximately $500 million in the project, which also includes expanding, remodeling and relocating existing stores.

Although Walmart Canada did not disclose exact locations, it did reveal that it will enter two new new markets this year: the provinces of Quebec and Manitoba.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- Colliers Monroe Friedlander, an affiliate of Colliers International, said that BlackSand Capital, LLC, a Hawaii-based real estate investment firm, acquired Pearlridge Uptown II from Inspiration International, LLC.

Cleveland -- Forest City Commercial Management announced the appointment of Kym Espinosa as marketing director for Promenade Temecula, a regional lifestyle center in Temecula, Calif.

Espinosa, who has more than 20 years of experience in the shopping center industry, is responsible for marketing program strategy and implementation for the 1.1 million-sq.-ft. retail center.