OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

San Bernardino, Calif. -- Stater Bros. Markets has announced the promotion of David Harris to the position of executive VP finance, CFO and principal accounting officer of Stater Bros. Markets, effective Nov. 25.
 
Harris joined Stater Bros. in 2009 as VP finance. In June 2011 he was promoted to senior VP finance, and in 2012 he was promoted to senior VP finance, CFO and principal accounting officer.

Harris reports to Jack H. Brown, chairman of the board and CEO.

Woonsocket, R.I. - Mark Cosby will step down as president of CVS/pharmacy effective Dec. 31. As retail president, he has led the company since October 2011 with responsibility for all aspects of the company's retail business including its more than 7,600 retail stores, 19 distribution centers and retail merchandising, supply chain, marketing, real estate, front store and pharmacy operations.

Irvine, Calif. -- In early 2013, global touch-screen electronic POS manufacturer J2 Retail Systems was acquired by The Aures Group. Having maintained separate operations in the U.S. market for the past nine months, the two companies, J2 Retail Systems, Inc. and Aures Technologies, Inc., have today announced their merger. They will now trade as J2 Retail Systems, Inc.

San Bruno, Calif. – Wal-Mart is providing a number of special holiday deals to online and mobile shoppers as part of an early Cyber Monday promotion that begins Saturday, Nov. 30. In addition, Walmart's mobile app customers, Facebook fans and email subscribers will be among the first to receive invitations to an early shopping event on Sunday, Dec. 1, featuring up to 20 of the best Cyber Monday items while supplies last, before they are widely available.

Redmond, Wash. -- Canadian pharmacy retailer The Jean Coutu Group Inc. has selected Microsoft Dynamics for Retail to manage all its retail operations, from its headquarters down to the point-of-sale devices in stores. Jean Coutu will deploy Microsoft Dynamics to more than 400 stores, 3,000 POS systems and 11,500 devices with implementation to start in 2014.

Toronto -- Lowe's Canada announced it has completed changes to the company's senior leadership team and is positioned to continue to grow the company across Canada.  

The new appointments include:

Nick Padovano was appointed to the newly created position of head of operations and supply chain.. Most recently, he was senior VP, store operations at The Bay/Lord and Taylor.

Chicago -- Retail industry veteran Steve Embree has joined the executive leadership team of spin photography services and solutions provider Snap36 as director of business development. Embree is responsible for driving business development and go-to-market strategies for Snap36 across both B2C and B2B markets.

Columbus, Ohio – Big Lots will open at 7 a.m. Thanksgiving morning and 6 a.m. on Black Friday. The retailer will offer one-day special offers on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, and Saturday as well as three-day discounts.

In addition, on all three days, shoppers who spend $50 or more will receive a coupon worth $10 off their next purchase between Dec. 1 to Dec. 14.