Art Van among state’s ‘brightest’ employers

The Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) named Warren-based Art Van Furniture as one of “West Michigan’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” in 2007. Companies are honored for innovative human resources strategies and tools for human resource improvement.

Art Van operates eight stores in West Michigan that participated in MBPA’s West Michigan award program, in which employees of nominated companies are randomly selected to participate in a confidential survey about their employer.

In addition, Art Van celebrated Arbor Day, April 27, by donating trees to area schools and organizations for planting. The company purchased 3,000 Norway and White Spruce trees from the Macomb Conservation District in Richmond, Michigan, for the program.

Nominations are open for the Michigan Business and Professional Association’s various “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” programs. The nomination deadline for the metro Detroit program is June 15; the deadline for the West Michigan 2008 program is January 19, 2008.

For more information or to nominate a business, visit www.101bestandbrightest.com, email info@101bestandbrightest.com or call 586.393.8800.

Jeff and Kathy Culy, of Culy’s Jewelry in Prudenville, were recently recognized for 35 years of membership in the Retail Jewelers Organization (RJO). Culy’s Jewelry was one of the first members of the elite jewelers’ resource buying group and is now a life member of RJO.

Kathy Culy was elected last fall to the National RJO Merchandise Review Committee, which meets four times a year in Kansas City, Missouri.

Haig’s of Rochester is sponsoring its fourth annual Mother’s Day contest. Applicants are asked to submit a story about their mother’s life using Rembrandt charms. The first-place winner will receive a sterling silver bracelet and all the charms that tell the story, plus a special custom made charm from Haig’s Fine Jewelry.

Home Depot is introducing its own label for nearly 3,000 products such as fluorescent light bulbs, natural insect killers that promote energy conservation, sustainable forestry and clean water.

The initiative is expected to include 6,000 products by 2009, or 12 percent of the chain’s sales.

CVS has completed the nationwide rollout of its “EasyRead” prescription labels, which feature a larger typeface, a change from yellow to blue highlighting for easier reading and a cleaner layout. According to the company, the redesign came in response to the needs of aging customers.

Foland’s Jewelers, an 80-year-old family-owned business that at one time had eight locations, became the second Royal Oak jeweler in recent months to announce it would go out of business.

Citing lackluster sales and Michigan’s difficult economy, owner Heather Kroot said the store will shut its doors in June. Foland’s moved to Royal Oak from Warren just two years ago.

In March, a Royal Oak landmark, Dobie Jewelers, also 80 years old and at one time the state’s largest volume jeweler, shut its doors. Store owners Kay and Dan Dobie decided it was time to pursue other interests.

Seattle-based Nordstrom department store and 20 other stores are scheduled to open at Twelve Oaks Mall in September as part of a 300,000-square-foot expansion of the Novi mall.

Tapper’s Diamonds & Fine Jewelry, based in West Bloomfield Township, chose the mall for its second store.

National retail chains, in partnership with the FBI, have launched the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network, a national database that tracks retail crime gangs. About 35 companies are participating in the database, including Limited Brands, American Eagle Outfitters, Mervyn’s and Bealls department stores and Macy’s, owned by Federated Department Stores.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation (NRF), which have each launched similar databases recently, teamed up to create the new online catalog. About 14,000 incidents have been recorded in the NRF database alone.

For more information, visit www.nrf.com/lerpnet.