News

ST. LOUIS — Ralcorp Holdings officially has turned its Post Foods cereal business into a tax-free spinoff to Ralcorp shareholders.

The deal, which was announced in July 2011, allows Ralcorp shareholders to hold shares of two stand-alone, publicly traded companies: Ralcorp and Post Foods. Now its own separate business, Ralcorp said it will produce private-label foods in the United States and also become a major producer of foodservice products.

Wayne, N.J. — Toys“R”Us has promoted two executives in its U.S. merchandising division. Richard Barry has been named SVP, chief merchandising officer for Toys"R"Us, U.S., and Lisa Harnisch has been appointed SVP general merchandising manager for toys, overseeing the merchandising function for the core toy, seasonal and learning product categories.

TOPEKA, Kansas — Payless ShoeSource continues its expansion into international markets with new franchise agreements for stores in Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

The company, which is a division of Collective Brands, announced that it has signed two new franchise agreements with partners Emart, a business unit of Shinsegae Group, Seoul, for stores in Korea, and Central Marketing Group, a business unit of Central Group, Bangkok, for stores in Thailand and Vietnam, bringing the total countries, which will have franchised Payless stores to 20 countries.

NEW YORK — Social conservatives and gay rights activists came to blows last week over JCPenney's choice of Ellen DeGeneres as a company spokeswoman.

PHILADELPHIA — Urban Outfitters Inc. has appointed a former executive as CEO of its namesake brand. The company named Tedford Marlow as head of the Urban Outfitters Group, effective Feb. 6. Marlow had retired from the chain in 2010, after spending nine years as president of the Urban Outfitters brand.

The announcement came almost a month after Richard Hayne, the company's chairman and president, succeeded CEO Glen Senk, who resigned. Hayne co-founded the company in 1970.

LANDOVER, Md. — Supermarket chain Giant Food has acquired two supermarkets in the Baltimore area from another company.

Giant, also known as Giant-Landover to distinguish itself from Giant Food Stores of Carlisle, Pa. — both are owned by Netherlands-based Royal Ahold — said it would buy two Fresh & Green's stores from Mrs. Green's Management. The stores are in Baltimore and Parkville, Md.

Both stores will subsequently be closed for remodeling, and the Baltimore store will replace a Giant store at a nearby shopping center.

RESTON, Va. — E-commerce sales continue to grow, proving that more and more consumers are choosing to shop online in addition to or instead of shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. Measurement firm comScore reported Monday that online retail spending (excluding auctions, autos and large corporate purchases) for the fourth quarter reached $49.7 billion, up 14% versus year ago. This growth rate represented the ninth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates. For the entire 2011 year, U.S.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — In honor of American Heart Month, Sam's Club  will be hosting free heart health screenings on Feb. 11 at all locations with a pharmacy.

The company annnounced that from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., members and guests can receive total cholesterol, HDL, glucose, body mass index and blood-pressure tests for. During the screenings, Sam's Club pharmacies also will offer free samples of related items, the company said.

The year got started with an overall drop in circular counts per market from five flyers to four flyers compared with January 2011. Conversely, pages per market saw an increase of 7.6% compared with the previous year. 

There was a noticeable jump in Lowes’ number of pages per market due to a 20-page insert dropping in the first week of January this year, where last year they distributed a two-page insert during the same week. However, they reduced their circulation from three to two circulars per market when compared with last year.

Former Target.com president Steve Eastman has joined Polaris to lead the company’s parts, garments and accessories business, the snowmobile and ATV manufacturer announced Monday.