A longtime executive at Genesco Inc. is departing.

The footwear giant announced the planned retirement of Mario Gallione, president of Journeys Group, at the end of the company’s fiscal year, with an expected effective date of February 2024. Gallione, who has has worked at Genesco for 44 years, has served in his current position for six years. 

Genesco has started a search process to identify Gallione’s successor with the assistance of executive leadership firm Egon Zehnder. During the transition, Gallione will become Journeys’ president emeritus. 

“He [Gallione] has been part of the team since the beginning and has been instrumental in building Journeys into the leading teen fashion footwear retailer,”  said Genesco Board chair, president and CEO Mimi E. Vaughn.  “Mario’s merchant leadership and exceptional footwear expertise have been a significant part of Journeys’ long-term growth, record success and value creation. “Beyond Mario’s entrepreneurial strengths, his distinct desire to develop a world class organization with a strong foundation of culture and talent will define his legacy.”

In addition, Mike Sypert has been named Journeys’ COO,  responsible for aiding the transition of leadership as well as assuming day-to-day responsibilities for Journeys, Journeys Kidz and Little Burgundy’s business, including stores and websites in the U.S. and Canada.  Sypert is a 34-year company veteran who most recently served as Journeys executive VP of sales and retail operations.

In a statement, Gallione said it has been “an honor to work with the extraordinary team at Journeys and Genesco.”

“As I look back, especially over the past six years as president, I am incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished including successfully expanding our digital transformation enabling us to serve our customers with the right products in the ways our teens want to shop, as well as successfully managing through an unprecedented pandemic,” he added. “Our outstanding people have created the industry-leading teen footwear retail brand that is now serving its fourth generation. I am excited to help execute a seamless transition and see how this team takes Journeys to the next level.”

Based in Nashville, Genesco Inc. operates approximately 1,400 retail stores and branded e-commerce websites. Its Journeys, Little Burgundy and Schuh brands serve teens, kids and young adults with on-trend fashion footwear. Johnston & Murphy serves the successful, affluent man and woman with premium footwear, apparel and accessories in the U.S. and Canada, and Genesco Brands Group sells branded lifestyle footwear to leading retailers under licensed brands including Levi’s, Dockers and G.H. Bass.

Rally House had a busy August, opening 16 locations during the dog days of summer.

The Kansas-based,  family-owned specialty sports retailer opened five new stores during the weekend of Aug. 26. Four of the stores were in new markets, including Pennsylvania (Chambersburg Crossing, Chambersburg); Kentucky (Hamburg Pavilion, Lexington); Texas (Cumberland Park, Tyler); and  and Tempe, Arizona (Tempe Marketplace).  The fifth was at L Street Marketplace, in Omaha, Neb.

August has been a month of expansion  for Rally House, which started the month by opening seven stores in one weekend. (See list at end of article.)

Rally House stores feature products from national brands such as New Era, Mitchell & Ness, Nike, Adidas and others along with localized assortments of popular colleges and pro teams.

 No two Rally Stores are identical. They each carry merchandise customized and tailored to the specific collegiate and professional teams in that area. In additional to team apparel, Rally House offers a wide selection of local styles and its own exclusive line of branded merchandise.

"Rally House is excited to continue amplifying its presence across the country with another remarkable number of new stores in one weekend," CEO Aaron Liebert describes. "We're proud to be the trusted sports and merchandise retailer for dedicated fans everywhere, and it's all possible because of the hard work of our team members and incredible customers."

Here are the seven locations that Rally House opened earlier this month.

Baytowne Square, Champaign, Ill.;

Fox Valley Mall, Aurora, Ill.;

St. Clair Square, Fairview Heights, Ill.;

Coralville, Iowa;

Manhattan, Kan.;

Sooner Mall, Norman, Okla.; and

Arizona Mills, Tempe, Ariz.

Based in Lenexa, Kan., Rally House operates more than 170 locations across 17 states.

A  family-owned convenience store chain that was founded 63 years ago has been acquired. 

Maverik – Adventure’s First Stop, together with its parent company, FJ Management, has completed the acquisition of Kum & Go and Solar Transport from Krause Group. The closing of the deal, which was announced in April, creates a c-store network across the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions, growing Maverik’s footprint to over 800 stores in 20 states with approximately 14,000 employees.

Chuck Maggelet, CEO of Maverick, will lead the newly combined organization. Tanner Krause, who has served for six years as president and CEO of Kum & Go., will transition out of the company.  

“Together over four generations — from my grandfather Tony and my dad Bill to me and my son Tanner — we built these businesses over 64 years through shared vision, collective entrepreneurship, and teamwork,” said Kyle Krause, founder and CEO, Krause Group. “We’ve run the businesses and differentiated ourselves by putting people first and making days better in all we do. Over the last six years, Tanner’s leadership was at the core of these efforts, resulting in a tremendous impact on Kum & Go. I’m confident Kum & Go and Solar Transport are set up for future success with Maverik.”

In appreciation of Maverik’s Des Moines based team and the local community, Maverik will donate $50,000 to The Des Moines Public Schools Foundation. As a longstanding supporter of helping fight hunger in its local communities, Maverik’s donation will provide fresh fruits, vegetables, and toiletries at Des Moines Public Schools 53 food pantries in schools across the district.

Three people were killed in what authorities say was an anti-Black hate crime on Saturday, Aug. 26, at a Dollar General store in  Jacksonville, Fla.

Three Black people were killed when a gunman wearing a tactical vest and mask and armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a Glock handgun opened fire at the store.  The victims included 19-year-old store employee Anolt Laguerre, Jr., along with  Angela Carr, 52, and Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion, 29, reported CNN. 

The gunman, identified as 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, shot Carr as she sat in her car outside the Dollar General. He then entered the store, shooting and killing Laguerre. The gunman then exited, but returned and fatally shot Gallion.  He also chased and shot Gallion’s girlfriend, but missed.  

Police officers entered the store 11 minutes from the start of the shooting and heard one gunshot,  presumed to be when the gunman shot and killed himself.

“There is no place for hate at Dollar General or in the communities we serve,” the company said in a statement. “Right now, we are focused on providing support, counseling and resources to our teams and their loved ones, and we are evaluating how we can best support and stand with the greater Jacksonville community during this sad and difficult time.”

Palmeter had bought the guns legally. He had no criminal record, but he was was the subject of a 2017 law enforcement call under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows people to be involuntarily detained and subject to an examination for up to 72 hours during a mental health crisis, CNN reported.

Dollar Tree has made an addition to its executive leadership team.

 The retailer said that Jonathan Leiken has joined the company as executive VP, chief legal officer and secretary. 

Leiken, who has more than 20 years of legal experience, most recently served as executive VP, chief legal officer and secretary of global technology company Diebold Nixdorf. Prior to that, he was a partner at global law firm Jones Day and an assistant United States Attorney in the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (Criminal Division).

“Jon is a seasoned attorney and business leader with proven expertise across a number of industries, including the retail and financial sectors. said Rick Dreiling, chairman and CEO of Dollar Tree. “His credentials ranging from corporate governance and law, to regulatory compliance and commercial litigation make him uniquely suited for this role.”

Leiken holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Brandeis University. Among many civic endeavors, he is the president of The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and teaches as an adjunct professor of law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Dollar Tree operated 16,476 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of July 29, 2023. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada. 

Lowe’s customers who work in the home improvement industry can use their mobile devices to ease in-store purchases and pick-ups.

In an email to Chain Store Age, the home improvement retailer said it is introducing purchase authorization for MVPs Pro Rewards and Partnership Program members in the Lowe’s app. Lowe’s initially launched the Lowe's MVPs Pro Rewards and Partnership Program in February 2022.

The new feature enables MVP Pro account holders to provide a QR code to a designated runner for in-store purchases and pick-ups, with set time and spending limits. Lowe’s intends to create a fast and seamless in-store checkout process, with no more credit card handoffs or confirmation phone calls needed. 

During the company’s recent second quarter 2023 earnings call, Joe McFarland, Lowe’s executive VP of stores, said that “(T)his solution addresses a pain point for many Pro customers and our Pro desk associates and leapfrogs the competition. And we're encouraged to see that our suite of online tools [has] resonated with Pros and adoption is already exceeding our expectations.” 

Lowe’s also recently expanded a same-day delivery pilot it initiated in select markets with omnichannel fulfillment solution OneRail in 2022 to all of its stores across the 50 states and Washington, D.C.