OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Boca Raton, Fla. -- As part of its plan to support a customer-focused omni-channel experience, Office Depot said that, effective July 28, its associates will be enabled with mobile hand-held devices across all stores to provide instant access to extended product information, availability, customer reviews and on-the-spot checkout from anywhere in the store.

Greenwood Village, Colo. -- Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has named Cathy Cooney as senior VP and chief people officer of the burger chain. Cooney will be responsible for leading the development and execution of human resource strategies.

Before joining Red Robin, Cooney served as executive VP of human resources for Carefusion, a $4 billion medical technology company.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Books-A-Million has teamed with On Demand Books to put Espresso Book Machines in BAM’s Portland, Maine, store; a second store is slated for installation at a later date.

Seattle – Twelve deaf consumers are suing Starbucks over what they claim was harassment at the hands of employees of a lower Manhattan Starbucks store on March 7, 2013.

Chicago -- Home meal replacements or prepared foods from supermarkets, drug stores and other retail outlets will continue to capture share of the meal/snacks market by stealing visits from restaurants, according to a recent study by The NPD Group.

Its recent foodservice forecast through 2022 indicated that instances of prepared food purchased at retailers for at-home consumption will increase by 10% over the next decade compared to a 4% increase forecast for commercial foodservice traffic.

St. Louis – Fancy Feast Gourmet Cat Food is launching a Pinterest sweepstakes called “Cheese Affair Pin to Win.” The contest, promoting the company’s new line of cheddar cheese-flavored products, offers cheese-themed prizes including a trip to New York to attend an event hosted by cheese expert and author Liz Thorpe. Consumers are eligible to win prizes by pinning certain cheese-themed images from Fancy Feast on their Pinterest boards during certain time periods through Aug. 11.

New York -- Fashion designer and retailer Kenneth Cole is partnering with the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots on the launch of a limited-edition capsule shoe collection arriving in stores for the holiday season.

To promote the launch, a designated area in front of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street in Manhattan) will encourage passersby to try and win a pair of Kinky Boots tickets by following @kennethcoleprd and @kinkybootsbway and Instagraming a photo of their "kinky" shoes using #KCKinkyboots.

Deerfield Park, Ill. -- Walgreens has named Mark Lelinski as its new corporate VP, market access. Lelinski will be responsible for contracting and pricing strategies, integration efforts across Walgreens pharmacy, health and wellness division, sales and account management, and developing the company’s managed market strategies.