OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Reading, Pa. – Regional supermarket chain Redner's Markets has deployed Retail 20/20 to reduce shrink and improve in-store operations. The solution will also be utilized to provide visibility into daily store processes to increase efficiency and reduce fraud.

Leiden, Netherlands – Ikea Group reported progress in its “People and Planet Positive” sustainability strategy during fiscal year 2013. Highlights include:

• Sold 22.4 million LED products, including 12.3 million LED bulbs.

• Ikea Group has committed to own 137 wind turbines and installed 550,000 solar panels, taking the company closer to producing more renewable energy than the total energy it uses by 2020.

Salt Lake City – Overstock.com has promoted one executive to the position of senior VP, general counsel and also promoted four other executives to VP positions. The company named VP and general counsel Mark Griffin to the position of senior VP and general counsel, and promoted four other executives to VP.

Mount Laurel, N.J. -- Agilence, a provider of cloud-based exception reporting solutions, announced that Redner's Markets has deployed Agilence’s Retail 20/20 to reduce shrink and improve in-store operations. The solution will also be utilized to provide visibility into daily store processes to increase efficiency and reduce fraud. Based in Reading, Redner's Markets is an employee-owned, regional supermarket chain with 44 warehouse markets and 18 quick shops throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) calculated that retail employment was down 21,600 jobs in January 2014, yet up 230,000 jobs year-over-year. December retail employment figures were revised up to a gain of 57,000 jobs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report showed that January total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 113,000, with the unemployment rate at 6.6% and the labor force participation rate at 63%.

Brentwood, Tenn. – Tractor Supply Company has named Mark J. Weikel to the company's board of directors. Weikel currently serves as president and CEO of Luxottica Retail Optical North America.

New York -- Fairway Holdings Corp., operators of Fairway Markets, announced that CEO Herbert Ruetsch will retire after fifteen years with the company, including the last two years as chief executive.  Ruetsch will remain a special advisor to Fairway and continue to provide input into certain merchandising and product initiatives.

William Sanford, president of Fairway, will assume the role of interim CEO while the board undertakes a search for a permanent replacement.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Responding to the announcement by CVS Caremark that its plans to stop selling tobacco products in its stores, Walgreens stated that the category has been under review at its stores, too.

Walgreens has been evaluating its tobacco line for “some time,” and, according to spokesperson Michael Polzin, it “will continue to evaluate the choice of products our customers want, while also helping to educate them and providing smoking cessation products and alternatives that help reduce the demand for tobacco products.”