News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Retired Kroger president and COO, Don McGeorge, has joined the board of directors of Acosta Sales & Marketing, a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.

During his time at Kroger, McGeorge was responsible for all of the company’s supermarket divisions, advertising, customer relationship marketing, manufacturing, merchandising and procurement, pharmacy and retail operations until his retirement in 2009. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Williams-Sonoma is reaching out to customers who want to be more hands on with their food with the launch of a Agrarian, a collection of products that focuses on the virtues of homegrown and homemade.

NEW YORK — Saks has named Michael Burgess as president of its direct business, effective May 7, 2012. Burgess will report to Denise Incandela, EVP and chief marketing officer for Saks Fifth Avenue and current president of Saks direct.

Beachwood, Ohio -- Mall owner DDR Corp. announced Wednesday that it has acquired its joint-venture partner’s 50% ownership interest in two power centers located in Portland, Ore., and in Phoenix. The $70 million transaction gives DDR full ownership of the assets.

Tanasbourne Town Center, in Portland, is a large-format power center totaling 566,000 sq. ft. and anchored by Target, Nordstrom Rack, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ross Dress For Less, Michaels, Old Navy and Petco.

Walmart has joined Adidas, H&M and Levi’s a member of the Better Cotton Initiative’s Fast Track program to encourage the production and purchase of sustainable cotton. For its part, Walmart will give $650,000 in grant money to help cotton farmers become more efficient and eco-friendly in their production. Read more.

New York -- In-store convenience store sales grew 2.4%, reaching a record $195.0 billion in 2011, according to data released Wednesday by NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores). Combined with $486.9 billion in gasoline sales, total convenience store sales in 2011 were $681.9 billion.

More than 80% of in-store sales are from five categories: cigarettes (38.1% of in-store sales); foodservice (16.9%); packaged beverages (14.3%); beer (7.3%); other tobacco products (4.0%).

Amazon wasn’t always a threat to Walmart, but as the only retailer grows and offers more of the same products as traditional mass retailers, it has become hard to ignore. This article from Businessweek examines how Amazon has influenced Walmart’s approach to online.

Consumer Reports readers who shop at Target gave the company middle-of-the-road marks on service and its perishable offerings, but the company scored better on pricing and received the highest marks possible on cleanliness.