Retail Briefs

Pier 1 Imports said that Mitchell Weatherly, executive vp for stores, retired as of Dec. 30, 2006. The specialty home retailer reported the move in a "Change in Directors or Principal Officers" filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. David Walker, evp logistics and allocations, adds store operations duties while the company searches for a successor to Weatherly.

The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. will closea 60,000-square-foot Younkers store in downtown Sioux City, Iowa, by the end of February, the company said. The Bon-Ton acquired the leasehold interest in this location in March 2006. It has decided not to renew the lease, which terminatesMarch 1. The company will continue to operate another store located in Sioux City Southern Hills Mall.

Sears Canada appointed Dene Rogers president and ceo, and William Crowley chairman. Rogers has been acting president since May 2006; he had been executive vp, restructuring and business improvement for Sears Holdings, the U.S. parent corporation. Crowley, who is executive vp, chief administrative officer, and a director of Sears Holdings, said, "Dene Rogers has demonstrated the leadership and focus on profitability that Sears Canada needs to succeed in an increasingly competitive Canadian retail market."

Five months after wooing Catherine West to JCPenney with a $20 million pay package, the company has let go of the executive vp/coo. The areas previously reporting to West — store operations, property development, and logistics — will once again report to chairman and ceo Myron Ullman. Before she joined JCPenney, West had held senior positions with Capital One Financial, First USA Bank, and Chevy Chase Bank FSB.

The board of directors of The Home Depot reached an agreement with chairman, president, and ceo Robert Nardelli to resign effective Jan. 2. "Nardelli will receive consideration currently valued at approximately $210 million," the board said. Frank Blake was immediately elevated from vice chairman and executive vp to chairman and ceo at the $81.5 billion home improvement retailer. Blake joined Home Depot in 2002 from his post as deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy; previously he was an executive at General Electric, as was Nardelli.