Labor & Employment

Nest, a leading consultative advisor and technology provider specializing in multi-facility maintenance and construction services, announced the promotion of James Porreca to director of estimating and construction.    Due to recent growth and client demands, Nest made the commitment to add a new division to the company that will help serve their clients’ needs in a more enhanced way.  

In May, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer began the formal process for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which establishes the rules of trade among Canada, Mexico and the United States. The retail sector has urged USTR to preserve NAFTA’s basic structure, while advocating changes that could help retailers begin sourcing more items from NAFTA countries rather than Asia. As explained below, the outcome of NAFTA renegotiation also will signal the future direction of U.S. trade law and policy.  

Best Buy's Geek Squad is undergoing some changes.   The consumer electronics retailer is eliminating about 400 Geek Squad positions, the StarTribune reported. The affected jobs are on the Geek Squad’s covert team, employees who mostly work from their own homes to provide remote technical support. The work will be outsourced to a third party, according to the report.  

Nordstrom is offering a deal to potential equity partners willing to fund a buyout.   The group of Nordstrom Inc. family members seeking to take the luxury department store chain private is offering preferential terms to potential equity partners willing to fund the buyout, according to Reuters. The group involved in the negotiations are company co-presidents Blake W. Nordstrom, Peter E. Nordstrom, and Erik B. Nordstrom; president of stores James F. Nordstrom; chairman emeritus Bruce A. Nordstrom; and Anne E. Gittinger. 

Despite the failure of a “skinny” repeal healthcare bill in the Senate, the National Retail Federation remains committed to fixing the Affordable Care Act.  

Macerich CEO Arthur Coppola had the potential for total compensation worth about $12 million in 2016, but his company’s recent proxy filing showed him receiving less than half of that.   Coppola is just one of many senior executives of publicly traded mall-owning companies to feel the sting brick-and-mortar’s right-sizing in his pocketbook, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.   

A German discount grocer is buying up land in the Grand Canyon State — but not to open stores.    Aldi is planning to open a regional fulfillment center in Goodyear, Arizona. The facility will house an office and distribution center, and will create 132 jobs, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.  

The import tax proposal has officially been removed from the tax reform plan — which is welcome news for retailers across the industry.   On Thursday, congressional and administration leaders announced they would remove the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT) from consideration, and announced an outline for comprehensive tax reform. The BAT provision would have ended importers’ ability to deduct the cost of merchandise purchased from other countries.