News

Frito-Lay North America has announced the winners of its "Create to Celebrate" Black History Month art contest, which invited consumers to submit an original piece of art celebrating African American achievement in Black History.

To celebrate, Frito-Lay will donate $20,000 to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The donation, which will help support the future educational needs of artists and students across the nation, was driven by thousands of consumer votes.

As part of Rite Aid’s information technology strategy, the company has named Matt Lynch, an information technology executive with nearly 30 years’ experience, as SVP and chief information officer.

Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) president and CEO Pamela G. Bailey said that the association will honor retired Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke with the 2014 GMA Hall of Achievement Award, the organization’s highest honor, at its Leadership Forum Aug. 23 at The Broadmoor.

Online retailer Bluefly is looking to leverage Pitney Bowes’ technology and shipping services to help expand the online global reach of their brands to international buyers around the world.

The U.S. apparel and accessories e-tailer is using Pitney Bowes’s global ecommerce software and international shipping services to help simplify international transactions, improve the online shopping experience for consumers and facilitate international growth.
 

Butterball has named Kerry Doughty as the company's president and CEO.

"Butterball will benefit from Kerry's leadership, vision and passion for customers and associates as he steps into his new role as president and CEO," said Walter Pelletier, president of Maxwell Farms, which shares equal ownership of Butterball with Seaboard Corporation. "Butterball has a strong legacy of providing quality, great tasting products that families enjoy every day, and Kerry is committed to that tradition."

Skechers was not always a brand one associates with running, but times are changing. The brand’s performance division has signed long-distance runner Kara Goucher to its Performance Elite Team.

The multi-year agreement names Skechers Performance Division as Goucher’s official footwear sponsor and will feature the world-class female runner in global marketing and advertising campaigns.

Coca-Cola is enhancing its Coca-Cola Freestyle app. Beginning this month, an enhanced “Create Your Own Mix” feature will allow users to choose from more than 100 drink options to create a customized beverage that they can then pour from dispensers at participating outlets by connecting their smartphones to them.

The app is free for Android and iOS devices.

Nordstrom has launched nordstromrack.com, a new e-commerce site and mobile app, built on a shared platform with HauteLook, Nordstrom's flash sale business. The new site gives customers access to shop Nordstrom Rack merchandise alongside HauteLook flash sale events.

Expenses associated with a rejected merger with Argonne Capital Group and the planned closing of more than a dozen stores took a chunk out of broad-line retailer Alco’s fourth quarter results.  

Net sales from continuing operations during the quarter decreased 8.9% to $130.9 million, compared to $143.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, which had an additional week. Excluding the 14th week of the fiscal 2013 quarter, net sales from continuing operations decreased 4.7%.

New York -- J. Crew Group Inc. is developing a new store format in the budget fashion sector. The company has created a brand called “J. Crew Mercantile,” and filed an application to trademark the phrase for selling clothing and accessories, both online and in stores, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The trademark application is still pending, the report said. The new brand would sell merchandise and prices that are similar to its J. Crew Factory outlet concept.