Retail briefs

TROY, MI — Two executives brought in to Kmart during the reign of former president and ceo Chuck Conaway have resigned, the company confirmed, as did three other executives. The Conaway hires, David Rots, executive vp and chief administrative officer, and Tony D'Onofrio, executive vp and chief supply chain officer, have left after less than two years at the company. In addition, David Montoya, senior vp, specialty operations, John Owen, gmm, hardlines, and Leo Anguiano, senior vp asset protection, have resigned.

James Adamson, the chairman of Kmart who assumed the ceo title several weeks ago, is reworking his management team and has restructured the supply chain operations. D'Onofrio's duties will be shared by Cecil Kearse, executive vp of merchandising, Gregg Treadway, executive vp of store operations, and Paul Springthorpe, senior vp of distribution operations, the company said. In addition, Tim Crow, senior vp of human resources, will now oversee all human resource functions with the departure of Rots and will report directly to Adamson.

Rots and D'Onofrio each received $2.5 million in loans, which may be forgiven depending on the results of the bankruptcy court hearings on April 24.

In other news, Kmart's increased focus on its website, Bluelight.com, is apparently paying dividends, as it has been named a top 10 e-tailer in customer service, according to a recent survey by Chicago consultants The E-Tailing Group.

Some of the criteria measured in the survey of 100 top sites during the first quarter of 2002 included time to shop, number of clicks to check out, number of business days to receive merchandise, time to answer email inquiry and number of days to receive credit.

Bluelight.com ranked first in fewest business days (three) to receive items ordered.