Labor & Employment

Wal-Mart Stores is being challenged with employee protests and unofficial strikes by its employees in China.

A 30-year industry veteran is taking day-to-day control of the Oracle Retail global business unit.   Oracle has appointed Ray Carlin as senior VP and general manager, Oracle Retail. Carlin will be responsible for leading the Oracle Retail global business unit and report to Mike Webster, Oracle’s senior VP and general manager, retail and hospitality.  

How businesses should respond to the new rule

In May, the Department of Labor unveiled new overtime regulations. The biggest change — and the one that will impact retailers the most — is the nearly doubling of the salary threshold that entitles most salaried workers to overtime pay from $23,660 to $47,476, which is based upon the 40th percentile of the lowest-wage region, the South. The previous cutoff was set back in 2004.

That’s one of the key findings of The 2016 Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey of more than 1,200 facility and energy management executives.  

The J.C. Penney Co Inc. is reportedly developing a new IT facility in a popular overseas location.   

A job fair held in New York this week attracted veterans and their family members looking to fill retail positions at the Westfield World Trade Center mall set to open in August. Some 5,000 attended to apply for some 10,000 positions expected to open there and at Fulton Center in the two months.  

It’s the end of an era for Belk Inc.   The retailer announced that Tim Belk will retire as CEO of the company in July 2016. Lisa Harper, CEO of Hot Topic, will succeed Belk as CEO, effective July 5.     The news comes less than a year after Belk, which operates 293 stores in 16 Southern states, was acquired in a $3 billion deal by Sycamore Partners. The private equity firm also owns Hot Topic.        

Nordstrom Inc. plans to more closely align operations of its omnichannel Trunk Club business with the rest of the enterprise.   The luxury retailer plans to close the dedicated Trunk Club fulfillment center located on Goose Island in Chicago. With the closure, Trunk Club will integrate its operations into the Nordstrom network of fulfillment and distribution centers located across the U.S. The Goose Island facility will transition to its close by August 2017.  

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” has been the theme song of U.S. consumers for the past two years, but they may need to look for a new anthem.  

So far, bidding on the 464 stores of bankrupt sporting goods retailer Sports Authority has been limited. According to Reuters, Dick’s Sporting Goods has placed a bid on 17 Sports Authority stores, with other bidders only attempting to purchase single locations.