Labor & Employment

Dollar General announced a major hiring initiative to support its continued expansion.   The discounter said that within the next month it intends to hire 10,000 new employees to support planned store openings and fill current vacancies. The chain will hold approximately 600 localized hiring events through September. It is looking to hire both full-time and part-time positions, including store managers, assistant store managers, lead sales associates and store associates.  

North American real estate owners and developers ratcheted up their green profiles markedly this year, though they still lag global trendsetters, according to the latest results of an annual sustainability study.   In GRESB’s annual environmental assessment of real estate developers and investment trusts, North American companies averaged a score of 59 out of a possible hundred, a five-point rise from last year and just shy of the global average of 60.  

Tiffany & Co. has hired Mark Erceg to become its next executive VP and CFO, effective Oct. 18, 206.   Erceg, 47, who will be responsible for the company’s worldwide financial, indirect procurement and information technology functions, replaces Tiffany’s former CFO who left the retailer in May.   Previously, Erceg was with Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, where he has served as executive VP and CFO since May 2015.  

Apparel retailer Nasty Girl, one of the hottest apparel merchants on the Internet just a few years back, is looking for a possible buyer, Women’s Wear Daily reported.  

The holiday hiring wars have begun.

Target Corp. is the first national retailer to announce its holiday hiring plans with the news that it plans to hire 70,000 seasonal store associates. The amount is the same as last year.

In addition, the discounter plan to hire 7,500 employees to work in its distribution and fulfillment facilities during the holiday season, which is slightly up from last year.

Photo: Brian Woods

Digital retailing is on the rise, but sometimes you just need to speak to a human being.

Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair is making this task even easier for its growing customer base with the opening of a new customer service center in Bangor, Maine. The facility will employ 450 full-time customer service positions, a workforce that will reinforce an already-reputable retail experience among its rapidly growing customer base.

Kroger Co. posted second quarter earnings that topped expectations but the chain cut its guidance for the year citing ongoing price deflation.

"If you look at the price of milk, eggs and commodities like that, they're historically low. Meat continues to be deflationary and produce is on a deflationary trend," Kroger CFO Michael Schlotman said on CNBC on Friday.

Retailers have learned a lot of hard lessons from cyberattacks. Many cyberattacks successfully targeted the giants of the industry. Wanting to avoid the same fate, organizations are making significant investments in security technologies and educating their employees on best practices.

But what happens when these investments aren’t enough? While companies are becoming smarter in their security approach, hackers are also growing more sophisticated in their attacks.

Pier I Imports is on the hunt for a new chief executive.   The home décor retailer said that its board of directors had  “mutually agreed” with Alex W. Smith that he will step down as president, CEO and a board member, effective Dec. 31, 2016. Pier I’s board is working with Korn Ferry to find a new CEO.