NRF Names quot;Retail Championsquot;

The Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation (NRF) has released its annual list of retail industry-friendly legislators, dubbed “Retail Champions,” who supported industry priorities on issues ranging from bankruptcy reform to taxes and international trade. Sixty-two senators and 148 members of the House of Representatives in the 106th Congress earned the Retail Champion title for their efforts in 2000, among them these U.S. senators from Western states: Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Sen. Ben Campbell (R-Colo.), Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), Sen. Michael Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.) and Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.)

The NRF also named six new members to its board of directors, including Alan J. Lacy, president and chief executive officer of Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Allen Questrom, chairman and CEO of Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney Company Inc. Other new board members of the retail trade organization are: John Hancock, CEO, London-based MFI Furniture Group; James F. McCann, chairman and CEO, Westbury, N.Y.-based 1-800-flowers.com; Beryl Raff, chairman and CEO, Irving, Texas-based Zale Corporation, and Brian Riendeau, vice president for government and community affairs, Louisville, Ky.-based Tricon Global Restaurants. —Louis Chunovic