Sales & Marketing

Westlake Village, Calif. -- Academy Sports + Outdoors ranks highest in customer satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Sporting Goods Retailer Satisfaction Report. The inaugural report measures the overall sporting goods retailer customer satisfaction experience by examining five key factors: staff, cost, facility, merchandise and sales/promotions.

MINNEAPOLIS — Pete Van Helden, EVP retail operations for Supervalu, will be leaving the company this spring. Taking his place will be Kevin Holt.

"This was a mutually beneficial decision that comes at the right time for both Supervalu and Van Helden, as the company continues to implement its business transformation strategy and as Van Helden moves on to opportunities that will better utilize his strengths," the company stated in a release.

Columbus, Ohio -- Limited Brands announced that Charlie McGuigan, CEO of Mast Global, the company's sourcing and production arm, has been named Limited Brands COO. In addition to retaining his current responsibilities, he will assume leadership of enterprise operations.

Martyn Redgrave, Limited Brands chief administrative officer, will transition to the role of senior advisor for the company later this summer.
 

NEW YORK — Several apparel retailers, including Limited Brands, Zumiez and Ross Stores, posted better-than-expected sales in April. It was widely expected that an earlier Easter, which pushed demand into March, and cool weather would hurt sales.

Limited Brands, parent of Victoria’s Secret, reported a 7% rise in same-store sales for April, beating estimates.

New York -- Best Buy’s chief marketing officer, Barry Judge, has resigned. His resignation follows the departure last month of chief executive Brian Dunn.

Judge is “leaving the company to explore the next chapter in his career,” Greg Hitt, a spokesman for Best Buy, said by e-mail, in a Bloomberg report.

Hasbro has partnered with teen retailer Aéropostale for an exclusive line featuring the Battleship and G.I. Joe brands.

The line will include men's graphic t-shirts featuring Battleship and G.I. Joe images ahead of the debuts of "Battleship" on May 18 and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" on June 29.

Sleep Number, a division of Select Comfort Corp., takes shopping for mattresses and bedding accessories to a new level with its updated store design. The new prototype, which was designed by JGA, Southfield, Mich., replaces the traditional—and bland—sea of mattresses with a modern and interactive environment that elevates the customer journey and positions the product as hero. Sleep Number debuted the new design in Oakbrook Promenade, Oakbrook, Ill., and it has since been rolled out to 74 locations nationwide.

Plenty of people shop Walmart’s stores for their groceries but go elsewhere to buy meat. Now the company is looking to convert a larger percentage of its more discriminating shoppers to purchasers of meat with a new quality-based initiative supported by an innovative shopper marketing strategy and a national ad campaign.