News

Niwot, Colo. -- Crocs Inc. has opened its first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified store, in Syracuse, N.Y. As detailed in Crocs’ new 2013 sustainability report, the store is certified at the LEED Silver level and features a high-efficiency LED lighting system and low-VOC and sustainable building materials.

Naples, Fla. - Naples Soap Company has chosen Opterus’ Store Ops Center as its communications and task management solution. Opterus’ Store Ops-Center is a cloud solution designed specifically for retail to manage and execute store tasks and communications.

The solution measures and increases operational compliance, communicates corporate policy, manages day-to-day objectives and tasks, and handles issues between corporate office and store locations

Ready Pac Foods has hired Peter Laport as the company’s SVP, chief supply chain officer.  

"After working with Peter for many years at Nestlé, I knew that he was the perfect fit for Ready Pac," said CEO Tony Sarsam. "Peter has worldwide experience in supply chain and manufacturing that will aid tremendously in cultivating profitable business processes within operations. I am delighted to work with him again and excited that he is joining our innovative team."

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. announced that Joanne C. Crevoiserat has been named executive VP and CFO of the company, a position she is expected to take up in May, 2014.

Average spending per person is forecast to decline this Easter despite pent up demand from a long cold winter, according to new consumer research from the National Retail Federation.

Newegg is building on its e-commerce presence in the United States with a pilot program that makes a limited selection of its products available to customers in the United Kingdom and Australia. The company said the move is “an important first step” in its international expansion plans.

San Jose, Calif. -- VeriFone Systems Inc. plans to release the VX 690, a handheld EMV-capable payment terminal featuring Bluetooth, 3G radio and Wi-Fi connectivity for fast transactions and flexible payment capabilities, in late 2014. The terminal is PCI PTS 3.0 compliant and features built-in security protection that includes end-to-end encryption to protect data at every point of the transaction.

New York -- Japanese online giant Rakuten has teamed up with First Bankcard to launch the Rakuten Rewards MasterCard Program, which provides cardholders with reward points for using their credit card to shop on Rakuten.com and elsewhere.

Rakuten.com, formerly Buy.com, is Rakuten's U.S. marketplace, offering consumers more than 17 million products at everyday low prices from a network of small and large business shop owners.