OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

San Francisco -- Piracy and discoverability are the top issues facing app developers today, with 26% of app developers reporting their apps have been pirated. A survey of more than 250 app developers App Developers Conference (ADC) also shows that a similar 26% found that their apps had been hacked, or obtained without proper payment.

Sunbury, Pa. -- Weis Markets announced that company president and CEO David J. Hepfinger has left the company to pursue other interests. Company vice chairman Jonathan H. Weis replaces him as interim CEO. Robert F. Weis remains as company chairman.

Hepfinger has also resigned from the company's board of directors. As part of the reorganization, Kurt Schertle, executive VP, sales and merchandising will report directly to Weis who will also oversee the company's real estate/store development, finance and human resources' teams.

Alpharetta, Ga. – McAlister’s Deli has named Jeff Sturgis as chief development officer. Sturgis has more than 17 years of experience in the franchise industry, including working as a consultant as well as senior management and development positions with Fantastic Sams Hair Salons and Focus Brands.

Sturgis will lead development functions including franchise sales, real estate, store design and construction.

East Moriches, N.Y. -- Solutions Management, a leading national retail and corporate maintenance company, announced the appointment of Michael DiTaranto as its new senior operations manager.

Cincinnati – David B. Dillon will step down as CEO of The Kroger Co. effective Jan. 1, 2014. Dillon, 62, is a 37-year Kroger veteran who has been serving as CEO since 2003; he will remain chairman of the board.

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Staples Europe has launched a new Staples.es website aimed at helping small businesses locate and purchase products.

The site has a new look and feel and offers many new features to improve the overall shopping experience including personalized shopping with product recommendations based on customer preferences, an updated search engine and filtering tools, streamlined reordering for frequently used products, and quick checkout with a mini-cart that designed to ease inserting coupons, saving addresses and reviewing orders.

Atlanta -- The Home Depot has appointed CVS executive VP and chief healthcare strategy and marketing officer Helena Foulkes to its board of directors.

Foulkes, 49 will be a member of the Finance and Leadership Development & Compensation Committees.

Walnut Creek, Calif. – While the percentage of retailers who think they know about their customers is rising, fewer retailers think they are proficient in using that knowledge for marketing purposes. According to a new study from RSR Research, “Retail Marketing 2013: Organizational Drift,” 36% of retail marketers said their customer loyalty program is a foundational element of their marketing strategy in 2013, compared to 32% last year.