OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Retailer looking for a new CFO
Niwot, Colo. -- Footwear marketer Crocs is on the hunt for a new CFO.

The company announced that Jeff Lasher, senior VP and CFO, is leaving the company to join boating supplies and accessories retailer West Marine Inc.

Lasher, who joined Crocs in 2009, will remain with the company through early November. He plans to join West Marine as CFO in November.

Mike Smith, Crocs senior VP for finance, has been named interim CFO effective Oct. 1 and will work closely with Lasher during a transition period.
European fast-fashion retailer opens DC on eve of U.S. expansion
New York -- An Irish fast-fashion leader is getting ready to make its U.S. debut.

Primark, known for its value prices and on-trend fashions for the entire family, leased a 677,000-sq.-ft. distribution center to support its entry into the United States.

L.L. Bean’s grandson dies; turned Maine cataloger into global player

Freeport, Maine -- The man who turned a folksy Maine mail-order outlet into a global billion dollar-plus multichannel business has died.
Hy-Vee opening two retail clinics

Robbinsdale, Minn. -- Hy-Vee announced Thursday that it will open retail clinics in two new Twin Cities-area stores opening in September.

For the clinics in the New Hope and Oakdale stores, Hy-Vee has teamed with North Memorial Health Care, whose physician assistants and nurses will staff the North Memorial Express Clinics.
Papa John’s makes exec moves

Louisville, Ky. -- Papa John’s International announced the promotions of Robert Thompson to senior VP of marketing and Edmond Heelan to senior VP of North American operations and global operations support and training.
NRF: Overtime proposal a ‘step back’ for career-track workers

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation continues to turn up the heat on the Labor Department’s proposal to expand overtime pay.
Fresh Market taps a lion as new CEO

Greensboro, N.C. -- The Fresh Market named a veteran food retailer who once led Food Lion as its new president and CEO. The hiring follows the abrupt termination of the chain's former CEO and comes as the once high-flying chain has seen its sales stagnate.
PayPal combines product and engineering oversight

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal Holdings Inc. is combining the management structure for its product and engineering departments.

Hill Ferguson, who served as senior VP of PayPal’s consumer business, has resigned his position.

Ferguson’s role will not be directly replaced. Instead, Bill Ready, senior VP and global head of merchant and next-generation commerce, is also assuming control of the consumer side of operations. This means he will oversee all product and engineering activities.
NRF ‘astounded’ by Labor Department overtime decision

Washington, D.C. -- The Labor Department is not extending the comment period on the Obama administration’s proposal to expand overtime pay. Its decision drew a no-holds barred response from the nation’s largest retail organization.
Fast-casual chain names DineEquity exec as CFO

Jackson, Miss. -- The fast-growing Newk’s Eatery named Robert Nygren as CFO.

Nygren comes to Newk’s with nearly two decades of financial management experience. He most recently served as VP of finance for DineEquity, the world’s largest full-service restaurant company, overseeing financial planning, analytics and strategy for Applebee’s and IHOP in conjunction with the brands’ operational and development objectives.