Labor & Employment

Regardless of the final outcome of its acquisition of Office Depot, Staples just nominated three individuals to its board of directors with unique perspectives on growth.

Curtis Feeny, managing director of Voyager Capital, Deb Henretta, former group president of global e-commerce at Procter & Gamble and John Lundgren, chairman and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, have been nominated by the Staples board of directors for election at the company’s 2016 annual meeting.

Sears Holdings announced its latest round of store closings as it continues to look for ways to cut expenses and return to profitability after five years of losses.

The embattled retailer, which has been steadily shrinking its physical portfolio over the last few years, will close 68 Kmart and 10 Sears stores this summer. (See list of locations at end of story.) In February, Sears warned it would speed up the closing of unprofitable stores.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that also applies to Amazon.com’s distribution network.

The digital retailing giant plans to open a sixth Texas fulfillment center in Haslet, making it the fourth Amazon fulfillment center in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Amazon currently employs more than 8,000 full-time hourly associates at its Texas fulfillment centers and plans to create 1,000 more full-time positions in the new Haslet facility when it opens.

Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday announced changes to its board of director of directors that it said were designed to make to make it more nimble and able to respond quicker to today’s fast-changing market.

As part of the changes, four current board members — Aida Alvarez, Roger Corbett, Mike Duke and Jim Walton — will retire and not stand for re-election. In addition, the retailer is shrinking its board by three members to 12, a move that brings it more in line with the size of most U.S. corporation boards.

The Finish Line said that John Hall will join the company in mid-May as executive VP, divisional president and chief merchandising officer.

Hall, a 30-year Nordstrom executive, most recently served as VP, corporate merchandiser of Rack Menswear.

At Finish Line, Hall’s focus will span across consumer engagement touchpoints including stores and digital operations, merchandising and strategies involving the company’s product vision. He will drive the retailer’s brand growth strategies.

Andrew Blecher, SVP of public relations at Hudson’s Bay Company

PSK Supermarkets, a 14-unit Mount Vernon, New York-based grocer that operates stores under the Foodtown banner, needs to run at maximum efficiency in order to compete with national rivals and keep food prices low for shoppers Controlling expenses is a big part of PSK’s efforts to ensure optimal operations. To stay on top of finances. the retailer leverages cloud-based Dayforce Human Capital Management (HCM) technology from Ceridian.

Target Corp. weighed in on the national debate about which bathrooms transgender people can use, staking a position that is sure to elicit as much praise as it does criticism.

In a blog post on its company website Tuesday, the discounter said transgender employees and customers can use the restroom or fitting room facility that "corresponds with their gender identity."

Target Corp is raising its minimum wage to $10 an hour, Reuters reported.

The reported increase comes amid an increasingly competitive job market and widespread calls by activists and labor groups for retail and restaurant chains to offer higher wages.

Nordstrom announced it will phase out 350 to 400 jobs, primarily in its corporate center and regional support teams, through the end of the second quarter.

The retailer described the reductions as changes in its operating model in order to “continually evolve with the expectations of its customers, ensure it is best positioned to respond to the current business environment, and meet long-term growth plans.”

The changes are estimated to generate savings of approximately $60 million in fiscal 2016.