News

Dex, a leading supply chain solutions provider for high-tech industries, has appointed Tony Harris, who is currently a member of the company’s board, as non-executive chairman of the Dex businesses in the EMEA region.

FoodMinds, a food and nutrition consulting and communications agency, has appointed former Campbell Soup executive Juli Mandel Sloves as SVP and Julie Alessi, RD, as a senior account executive.

Sloves, a 12-year veteran of Campbell Soup Company with more than 20 years of communications experience, was most recently senior manager of global R&D communications at Campbell. Prior to that, she led nutrition and wellness communications for Campbell North America brands.

A pricing glitch on Walmart.com this week generated enormous publicity and did more to promote the retailer’s e-commerce business in advance of the holiday season than any of its other marketing efforts.

Leading diamonds and fine jewelry online retailer Blue Nile has added Scott Howe to its board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Howe is president and CEO of Acxiom Corporation, an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company.

Prior to his current role, Howe was corporate VP of Microsoft Advertising Business Groups, where he managed a multibillion-dollar business encompassing all emerging businesses related to online advertising including search, display, in-game, mobile, digital cable and a variety of enterprise software applications.

Payvision, an independent payment services provider, has added JCB Card to its global payment portfolio. As the only international payment card brand based in Japan, JCB has a strong presence in Asia, while processing secure payment transactions for its expanding network of 24 million merchants worldwide.

The newest tactic to disparage Walmart by an organization called the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) involves race, politics and a convoluted connection to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Eight-year Walmart employee and OUR Walmart member Charmaine Givens-Thomas has posted a petition on the organization’s website invoking the name of the slain civil rights leader. She is seeking 100,000 signatures and a meeting with president Barack Obama to address the injustices to which she contends Walmart subjects its workers.

New York -- Office Depot and OfficeMax announced the completion of their merger late Tuesday and from the looks of third quarter results released the same day the deal should prove beneficial to both companies.

Office Depot said its third quarter same store sales declined 2%, while OfficeMax said its comps dropped 2.8% in the U.S. and 2.2% in Mexico.

The combined company will use the name Office Depot, Inc. and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP.

By Christian Davies, [email protected]

Meet the most complex shopper of all time – Generation Z. By 2020, today’s 14-19 year olds (Gen Z) will be the largest group of consumers worldwide, making up 40% of the U.S., Europe and the BRIC countries, and 10% in the rest of the world. The needs and behaviors of this group will influence the future of mainstream retail.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch reported weak net and comparable store sales and laid out plans to restructure its Gilly Hicks brand as part of a strategic review in advance of releasing its full results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN, Inc. (HSNi) reported impressive financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Net income soared about 137% to $42.05 million, compared to $17.69 million in the same quarter a year prior.