Discount and Specialty Stores

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Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) announced that Lt. Gen. Samuel D. Cox will serve as chairman of the exchange’s board of directors effective immediately. Cox was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services and will replace Lt. Gen. Darrell Jones, who served as chairman of the Exchange board of directors since April 2013 and retired from the Air Force on Nov. 21. Big Lots has appointed Richard Chene as Exec VP, Chief Merchandising Officer.  Chene will oversee all merchandising and global sourcing strategies and execution, including the development and attraction of talent for the organization.

Big Lots has added three general merchandise managers as the company continues realigning the merchandising organization into three customer-centric categories: food and consumables, furniture and home décor and seasonal, toys and electronics.  Trey Johnson was promoted to Senior VP, GMM for Food and Consumables.  Martha Withers was hired as Senior VP, GMM for Furniture and Home Décor. Lucy Cindric was hired as Senior VP, GMM for Seasonal, Toys and Electronics.

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. announced that Jeffrey W. Macak, Exec VP Supply Chain, has resigned from the Company for personal reasons. The Company intends to conduct a search for Mr. Macak’s replacement. Hallmark announced that Bryan Williamson has joined the company as VP, GM of Hallmark Omnichannel. Office Depot’s new Chairman and CEO Roland Smith, of the recently combined Office Depot and OfficeMax companies now called Office Depot, named Stephen Hare as Exec VP, CFO. Hare replaces co-CFO Mike Newman, who has retired from the company after five years.

Office Depot continued activities as the company, which resulted from the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, laid groundwork for growth in 2014 by identifying some key leaders. A little more than one month after Roland Smith was named chairman and CEO of Office Depot and one week after choosing Boca Raton, Fla., as the merged company’s headquarters, Smith announced a slate of senior executive positions that touch every aspect of the company along with several roles that are yet to be filled.

Key positions such as President of North America, Exec VP of Retail, Exec VP of e-commerce and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, have yet to be filled, but Smith did announce the following moves:

Steve Schmidt will serve as President of International to be based in Europe with responsibility for Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia and Mexico. However, plans call for him to be based in Florida until the company fills the role in Europe.

1. As previously announced, Steve Hare will serve as the company’s CFO.
2. Michael Allison was named Exec VP and Chief People Officer
3. Elisa Garcia was named Exec VP and Chief Legal Officer.
4. Steve Calkins was named Exec VP of Contract Sales.
5. Ron Lalla will serve as Exec VP of Merchandising.
6. Tim Rea will serve as Exec VP of Marketing.
7. Larry Hartley was named Senior VP of Supply Chain.
8. Rob Koch will serve as Senior VP of Real Estate.
9. Todd Hales will serve as Senior VP and Global Chief Information Officer.
10. To make sure the integration of Office Depot and OfficeMax goes smoothly, Deb O’Connor was named Senior VP of Integration.

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