Personnel Updates:

Advance Auto Parts has promoted Jon Dehne to Senior VP of Market Availability, Inventory Management and Merchandise Operations.  Dehne will be responsible for all aspects of the development and execution of Advance’s in-market availability strategy. As part of his responsibilities, he will lead replenishment and operations strategies as well as pricing capability and strategy to leverage gross margin and sales growth. He will also lead the supply chain inventory and data analysis functions.

Advance Auto Parts has promoted Donna Justiss to the position of Senior VP and Chief Information Officer.

Barnes & Noble CEO and Director William Lynch has resigned and the company has restructured its leadership team as a result.

The company has appointed Michael P. Huseby as CEO of Nook Media and President of Barnes & Noble.  The company has also promoted Allen Lindstrom, VP and the company’s Corporate Controller, to CFO of Barnes & Noble. He will report to Huseby. Kanuj Malhotra, VP of corporate development, has been promoted to CFO of Nook Media.

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. announced that it has named former Sam’s Club executive Jason Reiser to the position of Senior VP–Merchandising.  Reiser will have executive responsibility for the company’s health, beauty, personal care and household teams.  Mr. Reiser will replace John Scanlon, who has retired from the company.

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. announced that Paul G. White, Executive VP, Chief Merchandising Officer, has left the Company to pursue other interests. While the company completes a search for a replacement for Mr. White, Michael K. Bloom, President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume executive responsibility for merchandising.

QVC has appointed former Starbucks executive Mustafa El-Rafey as the company’s Senior VP of Talent Management and Rewards. El-Rafey will lead the development and implementation of a dynamic talent management and rewards strategy for QVC.

RadioShack has appointed Merianne Roth as the company’s new VP of Communications.

Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc., announced that Gary Friedman, the Company’s Chairman Emeritus, Creator and Curator, has been reappointed Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Friedman will return to his prior role at the Company alongside Carlos Alberini, who has also been named Co-Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Friedman and Mr. Alberini together will lead and collaborate on all key strategic decisions impacting the Company.

Target announced several category realignments within its grocery categories.  VP/GMM David Mirelez retained his responsibilities for produce, bakery, deli and food avenue, but his responsibilities for the meat category were assigned to VP/GMM Tom Olson. In addition to meat, Olson retained his responsibilities for the dairy and frozen categories, but his oversight of the dry grocery business was assigned to VP/MM Rachael Vegas. She is also responsible for candy and snacks. Her prior responsibilities for pets beverages and liquor were assigned to Nikhil Nayar who was named VP/MM after previously serving as VP of Target.com and mobile merchandising.

US Cellular announced that its President and CEO for three years, Mary Dillon has left the company to become the CEO at Ultra Beauty. .

U.S. Cellular announced that its board of directors has appointed Kenneth R. Meyers President and CEO.

Wal-Mart announced that its President for Indian operations, Raj Jain, has left the company.

Walmart named Ramnik Narsey, Senior VP of Walmart International, to serve as the interim leader for the company’s Indian business.

Williams-Sonoma has named David Jimenez Senior VP Visual and Store Experience. Jimenez previously served as VP Visual Merchandising and Store Design at Hallmark.   In addition to the appointment of Jimenez, the company named three other executives to new leadership roles in the supply chain area.

Peter Sassi was named Senior VP of Stores for the Williams-Sonoma brand. In his new role Sassi will continue to bring strategic insights and deepen customer relationships and evolve the in-store experience. Jeff Howie will now serve as the Senior VP of Inventory Management and Finance for the Williams-Sonoma brand. John Trifoso is expanding his current role as Senior VP of Pottery Barn Inventory Management, to lead the inventory management teams for the Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen brands.

Financial Focus:

Barnes & Noble reported disappointing financial results for the full fiscal year 2013.  Full year revenues totaled $6.8 billion, a 4.1% drop from fiscal 2012.

Tuesday Morning Corp. reported that its full-year revenue was up 3% to $838.3 million from $812.8 million.

Green Initiatives/Sustainability:

Meijer’s two newest locations, the Portage and Warsaw stores in Indiana are built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and are the latest in a $200 million investment this year that includes the construction of six new Meijer supercenters, extensive remodel projects for five additional stores in Michigan and Illinois, and major upgrades to two distribution complexes.

Staples has reached the milestone of having 500 buildings meet EPA Energy Star certification. The facilities include stores, distribution centers and sales offices nationwide. Staples also launched a goal to reach 1,000 Energy Star facilities by the end of 2016.

Wal-Mart Stores announced it has completed solar projects at eight Walmart stores and two Sam’s Clubs across the state of Maryland that will generate clean, renewable electricity.  In partnership with SolarCity, the retailer has installed over 3.1 megawatts of generation capacity at the eight store locations. The energy produced by the new solar installations will generate approximately 4.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually — enough energy to power nearly 370 homes — and are expected to supply between 5% to 20% of each store’s overall electricity use.

This new series of solar-power systems in Maryland bring the total number of Walmart and Sam’s Club locations with SolarCity installations to almost 150 across multiple states, with additional locations in the works. Last year, SolarCity installed Walmart’s largest solar-power system at its distribution center in Buckeye, Ariz.

Walmart President, CEO Mike Duke issued an announcement, “Investing in renewable energy and energy conservation are good for business, good for communities and good for the environment. When we use less energy, that’s less energy we have to buy, and that means less waste and more savings for our customers,” Duke said. “Over the last few years we’ve made meaningful progress towards our goal to be supplied by 100% renewable energy. Walmart now has over 300 renewable energy projects in operation or under development around the world, and the Environmental Protection Agency has named us the number one user of onsite renewable energy. As we continue on our journey we will continue to leverage our scale in purchasing energy so we can drive down technology costs and make renewable power more affordable for everyone.”

West Marine has released its BlueFuture(R) 2012 Sustainability Report. The study encompasses the retailer’s company-wide efforts focusing on sustainability, including improving and protecting the marine environments, reducing the company’s carbon footprint and encouraging people to enjoy being out on the water.

Included in the report is a reduction in the company’s greenhouse gas of 4.29% year over year, with an over 17.5% reduction since its 2007 baseline.