News

NEW YORK — The Estée Lauder Cos, whose brand portfolio includes Bumble and Bumble, American Beauty, Aveda and La Mer, has appointed Tracey Travis as EVP and CFO.

She will jointly report to executive chairman William Lauder and Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO. Travis will assume her new position on Aug. 20.

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. — Samsung Electronics America Inc.received the highest customer satisfaction ranking in three categories in the annual J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Kitchen and Laundry Appliance StudiesSM. The company was a winner in the refrigeration category for the seventh year out of the last eight years, the dryer category for the fifth consecutive year and the washer category for the fourth consecutive year.

New York -- Kohl's Corp. and the state of Wisconsin announced an agreement that will keep the retailer’s headquarters in Menomonee Falls, which is located about 20 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Kohl’s will receive up to $62.5 million in tax credits from the state over 12 years. The final amount of the tax credits is dependent on the number of employees the chain adds at its facility and the amount of money Kohl’s invests in developing its campus.

Williamsville, N.Y. -- Tops Friendly Markets announced that the company has entered into an agreement with GU Markets LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., to acquire 21 supermarkets located in upstate New York and Vermont.

This acquisition will bring the number of Tops stores to 153 and will expand Tops' footprint further into areas of northern and eastern New York State and neighboring northern Vermont. The planned acquisition of the 21 stores follows up on the 2010 acquisition of the Penn Traffic stores.

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Market is implementing the Recall InfoLink product recall management platform into its pharmacy operation to help it streamline the process of managing recalls, the grocer confirmed on Friday.

Recall InfoLink is a patented, Web-based product recall management system designed to improve recall efficiency by providing standardized messages, automated communications, inventory tracking and reports for compliance efforts.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl's has reached an agreement with the state of Wisconsin that will keep the retailer’s headquarters in Menomonee Falls, which is located about 20 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Kohl’s will receive up to $62.5 million in tax credits from the state over 12 years. The final amount of the tax credits is dependent on the number of employees the chain adds at its facility and the amount of money Kohl’s invests in developing its campus.

Mobile payments and technologies such as near field communications are a double-edged sword. The source of potential improvement to store experience, competitive advantage and efficiency, emerging point-of-sale technologies also create new opportunities for bad guys to steal. That’s why the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) have joined forces on the issue.

Indianapolis -- The Lids Sports Group retail division has reached an acquisition agreement with JAS Sports Inc., the Seattle-based retailer of officially licensed Washington collegiate and Seattle professional sports team merchandise. The purchase consists of nine brick-and-mortar stores operating under the Seattle Team Shop, The Dawg Den and Sodo Sports banners, as well as the mobile concession operations near Safeco Field and Century Link Field.