Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. here is no longer the target of an initiative in the state of Maryland to charge large retailers a fine unless they provide better health benefits to employees.

WASHINGTON -- In answer to an alarming rise in organized retail crime, the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association have joined forces, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to launch the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet), a secure national database that will allow retailers to share information through a unique Web-based interface.

WASHINGTON -- In answer to an alarming rise in organized retail crime, the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association have joined forces, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to launch the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet), a secure national database that will allow retailers to share information through a unique Web-based interface.

BOULDER, Colo. - Following the resignation of c.e.o. Perry Odak, the board of directors for natural and organic foods retailer Wild Oats Markets, Inc. named chairman Gregory Mays interim c.e.o., effective immediately, while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

BOULDER, Colo. - Following the resignation of c.e.o. Perry Odak, the board of directors for natural and organic foods retailer Wild Oats Markets, Inc. named chairman Gregory Mays interim c.e.o., effective immediately, while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

FORT SMITH, Ark. -- A former Wal-Mart v.p. of merchandising systems who had spent 20 years with the company was sentenced Friday to one day in prison and six months of supervised release for wire fraud convictions. He was also fined $3,000.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), a retail trade group here representing companies that operate more than 100,000 stores, yesterday filed suits challenging the so-called "Wal-Mart law" and another health care law, arguing that they "unlawfully mandate a specific health care expenditure, single out the retail industry, and threaten to eliminate the flexibility that businesses require to meet the needs of their diverse workforce." The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Courts in Baltimore and Brooklyn, N.Y.

WASHINGTON -- Grocery Manufacturers Association said yesterday that Stephen Sibert has been promoted to the position of group v.p., industry affairs and membership.