OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Broomfield, Colo. – Famous Brands International, parent company of TCBY Yogurt and Mrs. Fields Cookies, has appointed Neal Courtney as CEO. Neal had been serving as the company's interim CEO since February and served as COO since May 2012.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples is moving beyond its traditional assortment of office products and offering customers an array of what it calls “summer celebration” products both in stores and online.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney became the latest retail chain to say it will stop selling products associated with celebrity chef Paula Deen following her admission she has made racially derogatory remarks.

In addition, Ballantine Books has ended an agreement with her to publish five books. That agreement included "Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” which was scheduled for release in October 2013 and had reached number one in presales on Amazon.com and the Barnes and Noble website.

Williams Lake, B.C. – Canadian e-commerce company UNA Global LLC is opening a new online retail site, FitnessConnections4U.com. The site specializes in at-home fitness products such as weights, benches, exercise mats and vitamins and supplements. It also offers a free blog with product reviews, exercise routines, safety precautions, and articles.

Naperville, Ill. – OfficeMax Inc. is expanding its offering of private-label writing products by 75%. The new products include pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters and permanent markers. OfficeMax is offering more private label writing items while it is also restyling existing ones.

"Our new and re-styled OfficeMax brand writing products round out our private brand solutions to meet a variety of price points and writing needs for our customers," said Ronald Lalla, executive VP, chief merchandising officer at OfficeMax.

Atlanta - Spanx, the fast-growing dollar undergarment and apparel company, will open a custom designed, expanded company headquarters and a flagship store in Buckhead Atlanta, a major mixed-use project in the heart of the area’s business district. (The project, now under construction, was initially called Streets of Buckhead.)

The headquarters will occupy three floors, a rooftop garden terrace and additional balconies. Spanx is anticipated to move in November 2014.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. - Sears Holdings on Friday joined the growing list of retailers and other companies severing ties with Southern celebrity chef Paula Deen in the wake of the controversy regarding her use of a racial slur. Both Sears and Kmart sold Paula Deen products.

“After careful consideration of all available information, we have made the decision to phase out all products tied to the brand,” Sears said in a statement. “We will continue to evaluate the situation. Our members’ needs will be given first priority.’

Hicksville, N.Y. - The battle between the board of Men’s Wearhouse and its founder and former chairman, George Zimmer, continues to have a significant negative impact on the company’s online image.  According to a report by GenSent Insights, the company’s sentiment score, a measure of the tone surrounding a brand on a scale of -100 to +100, plummeted from an average of + 68 in mid-June to a low of -52.  The sentiment on Twitter alone fell from an uncommonly high score of +93 to a low of -80.