News

SAN FRANCISCO — The Gymboree Corporation has appointed former Levi Strauss & Co. executive Joelle Maher as the company's new COO.  

At Levi Strauss & Co., Maher was most recently EVP, president global retail, and prior to that SVP of Americas multi-channel retail, and VP, planning, allocation, stores, store operations and outlet. She also held executive leadership positions at Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy and Macy's East.

Grants worth $14 million to five nonprofit groups will provide nutritional education and help feed 1.7 million hungry kids this summer and next.

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — K2 Sourcing has added former Walgreens purchasing and e-sourcing executive Dan Carlson to its e-sourcing team. 

Carlson will be charged with helping to parse the company’s e-procurement applications and professional procurement services to its clients.

GENEVA & LONDON — P&G Prestige has entered into a licensing agreement with Alexander McQueen to manufacture and sell designer fragrance products under the Alexander McQueen brand name.

Walmart isn’t the first place that comes to mind as a destination for professional business attire so at first blush it was a bit odd to see the company affiliated with a group called Dress for Success Worldwide.

That said, there is more to Dress for Success than meets the eye which is why Walmart, in keeping with its female empowerment objectives, contributed $500,000 to the organization with week. The funds were presented during a special event held in conjunction with the Walmart Northwest Arkansas LPGA Championship.

SEATTLE — Point B, a management consulting and venture investment firm, has partnered with BusyLife Software so it can streamline its mobile commerce platform for retailers.

PITTSBURGH — Following the acquisition of Heinz by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, the company has announced a new senior leadership team.

Amazon.com and Walmart.com both sell products online, but that’s where the similarities end despite frequent efforts to compare the two.

With an ongoing investigation into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the last thing Walmart would want to do is enter a market like Russia. Nevertheless, a Bloomberg report this week linked the company to a retailer few Americans have ever hear of.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation welcomed today’s announcement that the Federal Trade Commission plans to investigate patent trolls. 

“Patent trolls are a drain on the economy,” NRF SVP and general counsel Mallory Duncan said. “It’s time for Washington to put an end to this abuse of our nation’s laws. Seeing this issue receive top-level attention from the FTC is a significant development.”