Business Intelligence (BI)

NEW YORK — Former Cablevision executive, Michael Huseby will join Barnes & Noble as CFO, effective March 13. He will report to CEO William Lynch. 

Huseby will lead the company’s finance organization, aligning the company’s finance and business strategies, optimizing the company’s capital structure and helping to scale the rapidly growing digital business. He will oversee the functions of planning and analysis, corporate development, accounting, treasury, tax, investor relations and internal audit.

New York City -- The Conference Board reported Monday that its Employment Trends Index increased 1.38% in February to 107.46, from the revised figure of 105.99 in January.

The February figure is also up 6.1% from the same month a year ago.

Staten Island, N.Y. -- Celerant Technology has acquired CAM Commerce Solutions, a subsidiary of Robertson Piper Software Group (RPSG) and a well-known East Coast-based retail software provider. CAM provides services for small to mid-size retailers across a variety of vertical markets.

YONKERS, N.Y. — After three consecutive months of improvement, the Consumer Reports Index for March slipped to 46.1, from 49.6 last month.

March's Consumer Reports Index measures overall consumer financial health and showed that the confidence of the American consumer is waning.

Further challenging consumer confidence, The Trouble Tracker Index increased slightly this month to 52.2 from 49.1 in February, and is now at its highest level since August 2011.

By Tim Wright, [email protected]

CHELMSFORD, Mass. — The Kronos Retail Labor Index released by the company on Thursday showed that retail hiring is on the rise, even as fewer people seek jobs in the retail sector.

The Index jumped to 4.2%, up nearly 7% from last year, indicating a potential recovery in the labor market. The number of applications edged down 1.3% , which is down nearly 6% from its level one year ago, pointing to applicants seeking employment in other growing industries.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners said that Glori Rodriguez has been named a senior marketing coordinator in the South Florida office.

Rodriguez will be responsible for executing the national and local marketing strategies for the South Florida office including broker transaction support, identity building, and lead generation initiatives.

Prior to SRS, she was a business development coordinator at Bureau Veritas N.A.

New York City -- Consumer confidence in February shot up from last month to the highest level since a year ago, according to The Conference Board. The group’s Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 70.8, up from a revised 61.5 in January, buoyed by consumers' more positive assessment of the job market.

Brentwood, Tenn. -- Tractor Supply Co. has increased its estimated domestic store growth potential to 2,100 locations from a previously estimated 1,800 stores.

Broomfield, Col. -- Level 3 Communications announced that Stein Mart will implement Level 3's Smart WAN Solution to support critical business applications used by the company's 262 department stores throughout the United States.

Stein Mart will use the solution to more efficiently and reliably access frequently used business applications, such as revenue reporting, data analytics, and inventory tracking, by connecting its store and data facilities over a single network.