OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us is updating its in-store shopping experience and expanding its omnichannel initiatives for its more important selling season. The retailer detailed its plans on Thursday at a special holiday preview event in New York City.

Starting in October, Toys “R” Us will expand and enhance product categories that have experienced sales growth over the past few years, notably education, tablets and construction, while reducing the space dedicated to areas that have underperformed over time.

New York -- Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a controversial bill that would have required Wal-Mart Stores and other large retailers to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour. The bill applied only to retailers with stores of 75,000 sq. ft. or larger, at least $1 billion in annual sales and non-unionized workforces.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples plans to open a dedicated to e-commerce and engineering center in Seattle that will house teams responsible for driving major initiatives to enhance areas, including next generation digital platforms, personalization, and big-data. It will be the chain’s first office on the West Coast.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. plans to relocate its corporate headquarters and distribution center from Philadelphia, to southern New Jersey.

The company's corporate office operations (which are currently split between its headquarters at North 5th Street in Philadelphia and its offices in the Philadelphia Navy Yard) will move twelve miles from the current 5th Street headquarters facility to a completely renovated 74,000-sq. ft. building in Moorestown, New Jersey. The chain expects the move to occur in fall 2014.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart on Thursday announced its annual holiday top toy list, but this year’s list has a new spin: It was put together with the help of kids. The chain brought together 1,000 kids ages 18 months to 10 years to test, play with, and help select the top toys for the season.

Arlington, Va. –The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has named Annette Guarisco as executive VP for public affairs, effective Oct. 1. Guarisco will oversee RILA’s federal and state government affairs, as well as the association’s communications efforts.

Guarisco joins RILA following more than 11 years as a senior executive at General Motors, most recently serving as executive director of global public policy.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Best Buy was the most effective retail brand overall during the 2013 back-to-school advertising season for the second year in a row with an average Ace Score of 561, performing 15% higher than its retail peers, according to TV and video advertising data from Ace Metrix.

Office Depot was the second most effective back-to-school retail advertiser with an average Ace Score of 540.

Columbus, Ohio – Employees at the Victoria’s Secret store in Herald Square, New York City have reportedly won concessions on pay and promotions from the retailer. According to CNNMoney, following a petition effort started by employees at the store in June of this year, Victoria’s Secret agreed to give them pay raises between $1 and $2 per hour and also start promoting employees at the location.