Walmart chief merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton was given additional responsibility for marketing on Friday, according to an internal company announcement that was obtained by Reuters. Citing the announcement, the news agency said chief marketing officer Stephen Quinn would report to Mac Naughton rather than U.S. stores division president and CEO Bill Simon as was the case previously. To read more click here.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer announced Friday the appointment of J.K. Symancyk to the newly created role of COO for the company, along with the addition of Peter Whitsett to the Meijer team as EVP merchandising and marketing.

“I am extremely pleased to announce this new role for J.K., as well as the addition of Peter Whitsett to the Meijer team,” said Hank Meijer, co-chairman and chief executive officer of Meijer. “As we position our company for continued growth, it’s essential that we have the proper structure and talent. This evolution of our leadership team under Mark Murray will help ensure our company’s on-going success in a very competitive industry.” 

Symancyk will report directly to Mark Murray, president of Meijer, and will have three direct reports: Janet Emerson, EVP retail operations; Rick Keyes, EVP supply chain and manufacturing; and Peter Whitsett, who will join the company as EVP merchandising and marketing, the role previously held by Symancyk.

Whitsett most recently served as EVP global merchandising for Dick’s Sporting Goods and has an extensive background in leadership roles with retail brands including Kmart and Radio Shack.  

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s has announced that Richard Dreiling has joined its board of directors. He will serve on the board’s audit and governance committees. The announcement brings Lowe’s board of directors to 12 members, 11 of whom are independent.

Dreiling is chairman and CEO of Dollar General, a position he has held since 2008. He led Dollar General’s re-emergence as a public company in 2009 through a successful initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Dreiling has extensive retail experience, having served as chairman and CEO of Duane Reade Holdings Inc.; EVP and COO of Longs Drug Stores Corp.; EVP marketing, manufacturing and distribution for Safeway Inc.; and president of Vons, a food and drug division of Safeway in Southern California.

Dollar General benefitted greatly from a more cautious consumer environment in 2011, and is on track to continue that success this year. Lowe's will no doubt hope it can capture some of Dreiling's success.

Dreiling serves as vice chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and chairman of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University. In 2011, he was named “Retailer of the Year” by Mass Market Retailer. Dreiling earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo.

“Rick has a tremendous range of retail and executive management experience from his years of working with some of the nation’s top retail companies,” said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO. “He is a thoughtful leader who will be an outstanding complement to Lowe’s board of directors.”

Rona, the largest chain of home improvement retailers and distributors in Canada, has appointed Dave Carr to the position of VP retail, Western Canada, and François Hardy to the position of VP dealer-owner network development.

After beginning as an employee of a TOTEM store lumberyard in 1992, Carr quickly climbed the ranks to become assistant manager, then store manager. After managing several stores in Alberta, Carr became a regional manager, then general manager, and finally VP of TOTEM in 2008, three years after Rona's acquisition of the company.

Carr, along with the other regional VPs for retail, will report to Luc Rodier, who has been promoted to the position of EVP retail.

Hardy took office on Jan. 16 and reports directly to Robert Dutton, Rona's president and CEO. He will assist in the development of Rona's existing dealer-owner network and be responsible for recruiting new dealer-owners. His professional background has centered on strategic positions in retail business development, sales and marketing in both Canada and the United States. Until recently, he occupied the position of VP sales and marketing at Intertrade, a business he co-founded in 2003, which specializes in developing partnerships and processes for exchanging information between suppliers and retailers.

Rona operates a network of more than 950 corporate, franchise and affiliate stores of various sizes and formats, with more than C$6 billion in annual sales. 

NEW YORK — The second day of JCPenney’s launch event in New York City revealed the retailer’s long-term financial plans to generate profit and shareholder value while reinventing itself.

COO Mike Kramer outlined the company's financial outlook, including an enhanced profit formula derived from the simplified business model unveiled the day before, based on a new three-tier pricing strategy, newly organized promotions and an overhaul of the merchandise assortment.

"The blueprint Ron (Johnson) and Michael (Francis) outlined yesterday dramatically simplifies our operations and significantly improves the company's ability to flow margins through to the bottom line,” said Kramer. “As we transform the business model, our teams are committed to improving sales productivity in our stores, generating 40% or better gross margins, while lowering expenses to industry-leading levels.”

Kramer said the company is targeting $900 million in expense cuts to be completed over the first two years of its transformation, ultimately lowering expenses below 30% of sales in two years. Kramer said he expects to achieve an expense run rate of 27% by the end of the transformation in 2015. The savings will come primarily from stores, advertising and the operations in the company's home office.

During his presentation, Kramer revealed plans to fund the transformation of J.C. Penney's stores through cash from operations, beginning with $800 million in capital expenditures in fiscal year 2012.