News

BURBANK, Calif. — Former chairman, president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, A.G. Lafley, has joined Legendary Entertainment’s board of directors.

Lafley joins a board comprising Legendary's chairman and CEO Thomas Tull, as well as Jim Breyer, Larry Clark, Dick Cook and Joe Roth.

Legendary Entertainment is a media company with film (Legendary Pictures), television (Legendary Television) and comics (Legendary Comics) divisions.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy will kick off its annual in-store holiday food drive across all of its stores next month in honor of National Food Bank Week.

From mid-November trough Dec. 31, customers can donate canned and boxed goods in specially designated boxes at Fresh & Easy stores in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Last holiday season, the retailer and its customers donated more than $1 million in food to local food banks and charities.

PLANO, Texas — JCPenney and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the nation's first and largest non-profit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, announced that they are joining forces to provide America's newest generation of military veterans with more than $1 million in apparel and footwear to start new civilian wardrobes. 

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores is cutting back healthcare coverage for new part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many new full-time associates, the New York Times reported. It is a major turnaround for the retailer which, a few years back, under heavy criticism that many of its 1.4 million workers could not afford or did not qualify for coverage, expanded coverage for employees and their families.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot announced that the company’s global headquarters, located in Boca Raton, Fla., has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star certification. The certification signifies that the building performs in the top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA, Office Depot reported.

Under most circumstances, Walmart and Target are like oil and water, but when the issue is fighting retail crime even fierce competitors see the wisdom of coming together to battle a common enemy.

Such is the case with retail theft, and earlier this week the Retail Industry Leaders Association welcomed a select group of senior level asset protection executives, product manufacturers and academic researchers to the 2011 Asset Protection Leaders Council (APLC) meeting in Minneapolis to launch the APLC’s process driven shrink initiative. 

CHICAGO — As many as 71% of consumers earning less than $100,000 per year are planning to trim back their spending this holiday season, according to new research, “Holiday Shopping 2011,” released Tuesday by SymphonyIRI Group.

SONOMA, Calif. — Banana Republic and Clos Du Bois Winery announced that they have teamed up for a line of limited-edition wine bottles adorned with festive labels designed by Banana Republic creative director Simon Kneen. The wine bottles, available in Nort Coast Chardonnay and North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon varietals, are priced under $20 and will feature Kneen's hand-sketched labels.