Retail

Michael Jeffries is still CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch. The company has renewed Jeffries’ employment agreement for a second time, with this latest restructured agreement taking effect Feb. 1, 2014, when Jeffries' current agreement expires.

Product designer, marketer and distributor FirsTime Design Limited elevated Christopher Bering to the role of president and CEO.

The company, which does business as FirsTime Manufactory through its License Products subsidiary, said Bering will also serve as a member of the board. Bering previously served as president and COO and fills the position occupied by Pete Wierenga since January 2012. Wierenga will continue to serve as chairman of the board.

Eight months into his role as CEO and with a new merchandising organization in place, David Campisi is following a familiar blueprint to reinvigorate the performance of Big Lots — making hard choices to streamline operations, implementing new merchandising strategies and lowering near-term expectations.

The Coca-Cola Company received the 2013 NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon held in the Encore Ballroom at Wynn Las Vegas. An official partner since 1998, Coca-Cola has become the first three-time recipient of the award.

Tide Pods, a line of laundry detergent capsules from Proctor & Gamble, has partnered with clothing designer and Council of Fashion Designers of America member Tracy Reese.

For the first time, Reese will be introducing machine-washable fashions as part of her fall 2014 collection. The collaboration is in conjunction with the Tide Pods and CFDA Washable Fashion Initiative, a response to the ongoing demand for washable garments and an uptick in consumer appetite for designer fashions.

Chad Kessler was named chief merchandising and design officer at American Eagle Outfitters after the company reported a big decline in third-quarter profits and said it expects fourth quarter same-store sales to decline.

In a move designed to accelerate adoption of RFID at the item level, Avery Dennison has signed a licensing agreement with Round Rock Research.

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, 5.8% of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6% last year.