OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

York, Pa. – The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. is the latest retailer to plan to have its stores open Thanksgiving night. Bon-Ton will open its stores at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 28 and offer in-store doorbuster deals through 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29.

Online doorbusters will begin at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Other retailers that have already announced plans to open stores at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night include Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s.

Ridgefield, Conn. -- Schimenti Construction Company announced it appointed Gregg Bartel as VP of operations. Bartel joins the company from Kohl’s Department Store, where as VP of pre-construction & development, he oversaw site due diligence and development of retail and non-retail construction projects across the United States

Baltimore -- Under Armour announced that COO Kip Fulks has added president of product to his current responsibilities, while Henry Stafford is now serving as president of North America.
   
In the new positions, Fulks will further leverage his leadership experience in product, innovation, supply chain and IT, and Stafford will oversee North America wholesale, retail marketing, global retail and global E-Commerce.
 

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation calculated retail industry job gains at 15,200 in September, and 289,000 jobs year-over-year, a 2.4% increase over the same month last year and 2.0% higher than total private sector jobs over the past year.

More stores will be open on Thanksgiving, which is also the first full day of Hanukkah

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. It's hard to believe that September is already here — time for retailers to attend to the holiday shopping season. We at ShopperTrak recommend the following ways to prepare for the coming busy months.

> Maximize opportunities during the shorter selling season. 

Salt Lake City – Supply chain technology vendor Park City Group has named Gary Rocheleau, a 40-year retail industry veteran who most recently served as VP of retail marketing execution for Safeway subsidiary Vons Pavilions, as senior advisor.

Other previous roles Rocheleau has held include president of Grocery Works, Safeway’s home shopping and delivery company. He began his career with Lucky Stores, Inc., where he spent nearly 23 years and his last position was VP of grocery.

Austin, Texas – Digital coupon provider RetailMeNot, Inc. has named Gokul Rajaram to its board of directors, effective Oct. 15. Rajaram is currently product engineering lead at Square, where he leads software development for Square Register, a full point-of-sale system for local businesses, and other products.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is enlisting Jonna Mendez, a former CIA officer and mom who will serve as a “Kids’ Gift Detective.” Inspired by her years of CIA experience, Mendez will offer online tips and techniques via a video series at ABullseyeView.com where she works with popular mom bloggers.

In addition, Target will offer a dedicated kids’ gifts page on its website and will launch a digital gift catalog in early November.