News

Staples has promoted John Buchta to VP, treasurer and tax. Buchta adds the role of treasurer to his current responsibilities as VP, tax, and will continue to report to Christine Komola, EVP and CFO.

“John has been an outstanding leader at Staples and brings more than 25 years of industry experience to his new role,” Komola said.

Buchta joined Staples in 2011. Prior to Staples, he was a partner at Ernst & Young. He succeeds Lisa Scopa, who has been promoted to the position of VP, high growth markets.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples announced the appointment of John Buchta to VP, treasurer and tax. Buchta adds the role of treasurer to his current responsibilities as VP, tax, and will continue to report to Christine Komola, executive VP and CFO.  

Buchta joined Staples in 2011 as VP, tax. Prior to Staples, he was a partner at Ernst & Young.

Buchta succeeds Lisa Scopa, who has been appointed VP, high growth markets.

Rogers, Ark. -- Walmart and Redman & Associates, a manufacturer of ride-on toys, announced that Redman will open a new manufacturing and distribution facility in Rogers, Ark., that will six-volt battery-powered ride-on toys featuring characters from popular Disney and Marvel franchises.

Chicago -- Dollar stores are not just for lower- and middle-income shoppers. In fact, half (50%) of respondents from the highest-income households ($150k+) say that they are shopping at dollar stores the same amount this year compared to last year, with 10%  say they are doing so more than last year, according to new research from Mintel. Only 32% of respondents from the highest-income households claim not to shop at dollar stores.

A manufacturing facility in Rogers, Ar., operated by Redman & Associates plans to hire 74 new workers as it increases domestic sourcing of ride-on toys sold at Walmart.

Merchant Warehouse, a leading provider of payment technologies and merchant account services, has entered into a partnership with Revel Systems, a point-of-sale software developer. 

According to both companies, Revel Systems' integration with Merchant Warehouse's Genius Customer Engagement Platform enables merchants to gain greater business intelligence capabilities to more effectively streamline, analyze and grow their businesses.

CashStar, a digital gifting company, has named Ben Kaplan as the company’s president and CEO. In addition to his role as president and CEO, Kaplan remains a member of the company’s board of directors, to which he was appointed in August when he joined CashStar as COO.

New York -- Shoppers in the United States intend to spend an average of $646 on gifts this holiday season, representing an 11% increase over the $582 they planned to spend, on average, in 2012, according to Accenture’s annual holiday shopping survey. The forecast uptick is more optimistic than other holiday surveys released to date.