Supply Chain & Merchandising

Athleisure apparel continues to be a driver of growth for Columbia Sportswear Co., which posted record sales in its first quarter.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is shuffling a number of key executives and also tinkering with its organizational structure. Veteran Wal-Mart operator Mike Moore, who currently serves as executive VP of the 613-unit Neighborhood Market division, will transition to a new executive VP role with oversight of Wal-Mart’s much larger 3,421-unit supercenter operation in the U.S.

Assuming Moore’s previous position is Wal-Mart West executive VP Julie Murphy.

Houston - Sunoco L.P. has appointed Matthew S. Ramsey as chairman of the board. Ramsey succeeds Sam L. Susser, who has resigned from the board to pursue other new business interests.

Ramsey has served as a director of Sunoco L.P. since August 2014, serving as chair of the audit committee and serving on the compensation committee. Ramsey also serves as a director of Energy Transfer Equity L.P. and is chairman of the audit committee, as well as a member of the compensation committee.

REI is looking to strengthen its omnichannel capabilities with a new distribution center in Arizona.

The outdoor retailer that it will open a third distribution center, located in Goodyear, Ariz., in 2016 to better support its website, stores and customers through faster product replenishment and delivery.

Seattle – Curbside pickup is easy, and so is texting. Combine them, and you have the supreme convenience of a new service Nordstrom is reportedly piloting in several U.S. stores, including its flagship in downtown Seattle.

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the service allows customers to text or call ahead of time so a store associate is already waiting on the curb when the customer arrives. Nordstrom, which has allowed in-store pickup of online items since 2008, also plans to pilot the service for men’s alterations.

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Hoboken, N.J. – Amazon.com may be hoping to fly high with drone-based deliveries, but a rival e-commerce platform is also planning to take off soon. Jet.com, a subscription-based e-commerce site that hopes to compete with the Amazon Prime membership service using “profit-free” pricing, promises to launch soon.

Doughnuts may be required to spend some time in the proofer, but when it comes to sustainability, the proof is in the doughnuts, at least those that are served at a growing number of Dunkin’ Donuts 18,000-plus locations.

The rise of Dunkin’ Brands sustainability initiative was presented by the company’s senior director of global design and construction services, John Herth, and director of corporate responsibility, Christine Riley Miller, at the SPECS session, “Sustainability the Dunkin’ Brands Way.”

At the end of 2014, the company launched Dunkin’ Donuts (DD) Green Achiev