News

Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer HH Gregg announced plans to hire 500 qualified home appliance and electronics salespeople for its 228 stores in preparation for the holiday shopping season. 

The company is accepting applications through the end of the month and will be hiring for stores in the Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regions. Associates hired in advance of the holiday season will be offered permanent full-time and part-time sales positions.

Michaels has launched Cake Boss cakeware, designed by celebrity baker Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro, star of Cake Boss on TLC, and will be leveraging social media to promote the line.

Available in all U.S. Michaels stores, the cakeware line includes cookie, cake and loaf pans with grips, novelty bakeware like the signature flower cakelett pan; specialty baking utensils like a spoonula, a mechanical cookie scoop and a balloon whisk; and accessories like decorating tip sets, a fondant ribbon cutter, a letter impression set, and specialty fondant acrylic rolling pins.

ATLANTA — Red Book Connect, a global cloud software company serving the restaurant and broader retail industries, has named Anthony Lye as the company’s chief product officer. 

Lye will be responsible for leading product development and cloud operations for all products, which include hiring, training, scheduling, business intelligence, shift communication, loyalty programs, labor and inventory management software and tools. He will be based in the San Francisco office.

Kraft Foods Group has promoted Sam Rovit, current EVP of strategy, to EVP and president of the company's Oscar Mayer business unit. Rovit succeeds Nick Meriggioli, who will be leaving the organization in early 2014.

Dick’s Sporting Goods has outlined its long-term plan to deliver sales and operating profit growth and drive shareholder value in the next five years, with the company’s namesake stores, new Field & Stream retail format and omnichannel platform driving its growth.

OfficeMax has opened Digital IC2, a digital innovation collaboration center, in its headquarters in Naperville, Ill.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys "R" U widened its loss in the second quarter on lower sales at its stores in the United States and Europe. The company reported a loss of $113 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $36 million.

Net sales for the quarter, ended August 3, dropped 6.9% to $2.38 billion. Same-store sales declined 3.5% in the U.S. and 3.8% abroad. The retailer attributed the decline primarily to decreases in the juvenile and entertainment (which includes electronics, video game hardware and software) categories.

New York -- Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners disclosed through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that an affiliate, Hummingbird LLC, had taken an 8% stake in Aeropostale.

Sycamore through its Hummingbird LLC unit, bought about 6.3 million shares of Aeropostale, according to the filing. That would make it the retailer’s fourth-largest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. said that Troy Alstead, CFO and chief administrative officer, has been promoted to CFO and group president, Global Business Services.

Alstead’s promotion is a recognition of the increasing responsibility and complexity of his role overseeing Starbucks global financial, technology and supply chain operations and ensuring that the company’s overall business infrastructure is optimized to support the company’s global growth.

Dallas -- PeopleAnswers and New York & Company announced a software licensing agreement for the specialty apparel chain with more than 500 stores nationwide to use the PeopleAnswers HR-focused business solution to recommend employee candidates who can guide their customers to make smart fashion purchase decisions.