Supply Chain & Merchandising

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. said Friday it has named Ryan Vero senior VP and president, Grocery, Drug and Pharmacy.

Vero most recently served as the executive VP and chief merchandising/marketing officer for OfficeMax. He spend 17 years with the office supply retailer and was most recently responsible for merchandising, marketing, new channels, and e-commerce business, in addition to global sourcing, private brands, product development and pricing.
 

The 430 unit Sheetz convenience store chain will have a new president and CEO with a familiar name in 2013.

The $6.3 billion company announced that Joe Sheetz, currently EVP of finance and store development, would become president and CEO and current president and CEO Stan Sheetz would assume the title of chairman. Current chairman Steve Sheetz fills a newly create position as the company's family council chairman. The changes take effect October 2013.

Los Angeles -- Guess said Thursday that its COO J. Michael Prince and CFO Dennis Secor both have resigned the company to pursue other interests.

Prince’s departure is effective Nov. 26 and Secor will stay until Dec. 7.

The company said it does not have any immediate plans to replace the COO position and will realign these responsibilities among various senior executives. Michael Relich, executive VP and CIO, will assume additional operational responsibilities, including logistics. 

LOS ANGELES — Guess? Inc. announced tht its COO, J. Michael Prince; and SVP and CFO, Dennis Secor.  Both are leaving to pursue other interests. Prince will remain with the company until Nov. 26 and Secor will remain with the company until Dec. 7.

Paul Marciano, CEO, stated, "We wish Michael and Dennis well in their future endeavors and thank them for their contributions to our company. Given the depth of our management team, we expect a very smooth and orderly transition."

New York -- Supervalu Inc. is cutting 700 positions at its Shaw’s and Star Market divisions in New England.

The company said Friday that the job cuts will take place in 169 Shaw's and Star Market stores.

Chicago — Black Friday will be the single biggest sales and foot traffic day of this holiday season, followed by Saturday, Dec. 22, according to ShopperTrak, the world’s largest counter and analyzer of retail foot traffic. With the greatest possible number of shopping days — 32 — lying between Black Friday and Christmas this year, ShopperTrak predicts that national retail sales will rise 3.3% (over last year) during the peak holiday shopping months of November and December; retail foot traffic will increase 2.8%.

Indianapolis -- Hhgregg reported Friday that net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 dropped to $3.8 million from $6 million last year. Sales dipped 5% to $587.6 million and same-store sales dropped 8.8%.

According to CEO Dennis May, the electronics and appliances retailer is testing new merchandise and, in the third quarter, will roll out furniture and exercise equipment to all stores. He also said the current fiscal 2013 outlook calls for 20 new store openings from a previous range of 20-22.

Appliance and consumer electronics retailer HH Gregg, reported second quarter result on Friday that weren't as bad as expected.