Sears Holdings has appointed former Eli Lilly CIO Jeff Balagna as its new EVP and CIO. In his new role, Balagna will be responsible for all technology and infrastructure initiatives for the company in its support centers and in-store.

Among the highlights of the first Sears Holdings shareholder meeting since Edward Lampert became chairman and CEO were details on the company's progress in combining its brick-and-mortar and online businesses.

An armed robber allegedly stole sensitive electronic information on pharmacy customers from a Kmart store in Little Rock, Ark., last month, the mass merchandise retailer said.

Kmart and Shop Your Way are teaming up with New York Times bestselling author Sandra Lee to support the Share Our Strength Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry campaign. The national fundraising initiative encourages people to host bake sales in their communities to help end childhood hunger in the United States.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in March 2012 vs. March 2013 and noticed some common overall trends across top retail chains. Surprisingly the total number of pages per circular increased across the majority of retailers included in the study which shows that retailers are still focused heavily on their print circulars.

Fashion accessories retailer Charming Charlie announced that Tom Fitzgerald has joined the company as EVP, CAO and CFO.

Fourth quarter operating profits at Sear’s Holdings on an adjusted basis improved. 22% and same store sales at Sears flagship stores turned modestly positive.

Sears is headed to the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival this month to showcase its new lines of outdoor living furniture, patio sets and Kenmore grills.

Select Kmart locations will carry apparel and accessories collections developed by pop superstars Adam Levine and Nicki Minaj in an effort to boost sales. Both collections will also be available via the ShopYourWay.com social shopping platform.

The NRF Foundation and American Express announced the winners of their fifth annual Aspire2Retail Intercollegiate Challenge. Each student will receive an educational scholarship worth $2,500.