New Year, New President

Michaels Stores Inc. (Irving, Texas) has announced that Ron Staffieri will join the company as president at the start of the new year. Staffieri will be responsible for marketing, merchandising and operations for the 759 Michaels stores. He will report to Michaels'ceo Michael Rouleau.

With 30 years of retail experience, Staffieri began his career at Federated Department Stores. He held positions as president of Things Remembered and president/ceo of KayBee Toy Stores, before most recently serving as president of Waldenbooks, a division of Borders Group Inc.

Michaels Stores, one of the largest retailers of arts, crafts, framing, floral, decorative wall decor and seasonal merchandise, also reported November sales of $349.5 million, a 2 percent increase from the same period last year. Same-store sales for the month decreased by 6 percent, but were up 4 percent for the year-to-date.