OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Cincinnati – Kroger has promoted Mark Tuffin to senior VP of retail divisions. He succeeds Michael Ellis, who will become Kroger's president and COO on Jan. 1, 2014.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Most Walgreens stores will be open until midnight through Christmas Eve, and most stores will be open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, including 1,600 24-hour locations. On Christmas Day, most non-24-hour stores will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Arlington, Va. -- Ajani Stewart has joined the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) as part of the sustainability team within the RILA legal department. Stewart is leading the development of RILA’s Center for Retail Compliance (CRC). RILA recently received funding to develop the CRC, a web-based resource for retailers and stakeholders in the industry to access solutions and information for maintaining and achieving environmental compliance. Stewart is responsible for the development of the center.

Toronto, Canada -- Staples Canada has announced its sustainability achievements for the third quarter of 2013, meeting its recycling and energy efficiency program goals.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us announced that, beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Dec. 21, it will remain open continuously through 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve, leveraging last-minute toy shoppers’ most frenetic shopping hours.

All Toys “R” Us stores nationwide are advertising around-the-clock savings and deals during the final 87 hours of Christmas shopping, along with daily deliveries through Christmas Eve. Only full-service stores in Paramus, N.J., and Puerto Rico, will not be open 24 hours a day.

Largo, Fla. – Valpak has signed a franchise agreement with Lia Jensen to acquire the Valpak of West Michigan territory. The market was previously owned and operated by Valpak corporate.

Jensen, a first-time franchisee, has assumed The Blue Envelope distribution and began mailing out to residents and businesses in Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan Counties in October.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot is expanding 3D Systems Cube 3-D printing services to 150 Office Depot stores nationwide.

Customers can experience 3-D printing demonstrations in stores in eight states or print on their own by purchasing the Cube or CubeX applications from www.officedepot.com. Participating states are California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Texas.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart India is laying off roughly 100-150 senior to mid-level employees. The Financial Press quotes anonymous executives as saying Wal-Mart India, which currently employs about 1,100 workers, beefed up staffing in anticipation of an expansion that has now been put on hold.

Wal-Mart runs 20 wholesale stores in India. The retailer previously ran them in a joint venture with Indian company Bharti Enterprises, but since that partnership was dissolved in October 2013 Wal-Mart India has been taking on Bharti employees.