Sales & Marketing

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Wednesday welcomed a letter from lawmakers urging the Internal Revenue Service to back off a proposed accounting rule change that could cost many retailers millions of dollars a year.



Gerald Evans was named chief operating officer at HanesBrands after serving as co-COO since 2011.

Art suppliers and writing instrument supplier Faber-Castell USA named Delanie West as VP of the company’s Creativity Center.

NORWOOD, Mass. — Hot Wheels has entered into a licensing agreement with Toy State, a leading manufacturer of licensed and highly stylized lights-and-sound toy vehicles. 

The agreement, which runs through 2016, gives Toy State the green light to design and build a new line of high-octane custom versions of Hot Wheels remote-controlled and lights-and-sound toys. 

Fremont, Calif. -- Men’s Wearhouse announced Wednesday that it has fired its founder and executive chairman George Zimmer; no reason was given for the sudden move.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- The Sembler Co. has added nearly 900,000 sq. ft. to its portfolio of third-party management and leasing assignments through the end of the year’s second quarter.

New assignments include co-managing 672,259 sq. ft. of retail properties across Florida and Georgia with Community Reinvestment Partners II. Sembler will handle leasing for most of the properties.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — QVC, a global video and e-commerce retailer, has appointed former Starbucks executive Mustafa El-Rafey as the company’s SVP of talent management and rewards. El-Rafey will lead the development and implementation of a dynamic talent management and rewards strategy for QVC.

He will report to EVP of human resources and workplace services Beth Rubino.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company will start including calorie information on menu boards in all U.S.-based corporate and licensed stores on June 25. The retailer will post calorie counts to accompany each beverage listed on the menu boards, as well as on tags to accompany food in the bakery case. All calorie counts will reflect the item as made by standard recipe and will not include potential extra calories resulting from whipped cream, different types of milk or sweetener, or other customer options.