Diversity & Inclusion

Walmart’s foes are at it again this holiday season, looking to disparage the company with misinformation and publicity stunts that harm the workers the organization claims to help.

There has been a bit of controversy lately regarding Urban Outfitters’ recent request that some of their salaried employees “volunteer” to fill normally hourly roles in fulfillment centers and retail outlets.

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Starbucks is the number one retailer employer in the United States when it comes to fostering a happy workplace.

That’s according to a survey by CareerBliss, which analyzed the key factors that impact workplace happiness. Ace Hardware, Ikea, Apple and Barnes & Noble round out the CareerBliss top five.

“The employee reviews on CareerBliss rank Starbucks as the number one retail employer in the United States when it comes to employee happiness,” said Heidi Golledge, co-founder of CareerBliss.

Nordstrom is adding some financial expertise to its board with its latest appointment.

The Seattle-based retailer has appointed Gordon Smith, CEO of Consumer and Community Banking at JPMorgan Chase, to the company's board of directors. The addition of Smith brings the total number of directors to 15 and the number of independent directors to 12. Nordstrom directors serve one-year terms and the company requires annual elections of all Board members. Smith will join the Compensation and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees.

On Oct. 23, America lost one of its greatest retailing entrepreneurs, Tom Stemberg, who invented the office superstore industry close to 30 years ago. Tom, a Boston resident was a grocery executive early in his career. He came up with the idea of a supermarket for office products after driving around looking for a typewriter ribbon. He then founded Staples, now a $22 billion worldwide company.

Ellicott City, Md. -- Investment Program Association announced it is honoring Daniel L. Goodwin, principal and chairman of Inland Real Estate Group with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was recently presented at the IPA Annual Conference.