Labor & Employment

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us has put an executive from L’Oreal in charge of its human resources.

The toy giant appointed Tim Grace as executive VP, global chief talent officer, effective Sept. 14.

Grace will oversee all global human resources functions, including organizational design, talent acquisition, succession planning, learning, change management and labor and employee relations, as well as compensation and benefits.

Ft. Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS Inc. may be considering a sale to one of several private equity suitors.

According to Bloomberg, Chico’s has been approached by Sycamore Partners and is also in talks with other private equity groups about a possible sale.

New York – Front-running Republican presidential contender Donald Trump continued his war of words with Macy’s Inc. during a Sunday morning interview on the CBS program, "Face the Nation."

Trump singled out Macy’s as an example of companies where the CEO places their friends on the board and receives inappropriately high pay.

Chico’s FAS Inc. may be considering a sale to one of several private equity suitors.

Toys“R”Us has looked to a Loreal veteran to take over its human resources division.

The retailer announced that it has named Tim Grace as executive vice president, global chief talent officer, effective immediately. In this role, the company says Grace will oversee all global human resources functions, including organizational design, talent acquisition, succession planning, learning, change management and labor and employee relations, as well as compensation and benefits. He will report to Dave Brandon, Chairman and CEO, Toys“R”Us, Inc.

Sunnyvale, Calif. – The marketing head of a major Internet company has heard the siren call of Hollywood. Kathy Savitt, chief marketing officer of Yahoo, is joining Burbank, California-based movie and TV production studio STX Entertainment in October as president of digital business.

Savitt, who previously served as VP of communications and Amazon.com and chief marketing officer at American Eagle Outfitters, and also founded now defunct social commerce site Lockerz, had been in charge of marketing at Yahoo for three years.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) is not backing down from its opposition to an expanded definition of “joint employer.”

The NRF is publicly asking Congress to pass legislation introduced this week that would reverse a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that significantly broadens the definition of a joint employer.

According to the NRF, the move would unfairly make companies that work with franchise locations or subcontractors responsible for actions they do not control.

Cincinnati -- For almost 12 years, Kroger has reported same-store sales growth every quarter. And they did it again Friday.

The supermarket giant reported net earnings of $433 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, and identical supermarket sales growth, without fuel, of 5.3% in the second quarter of fiscal 2015.
 

Houston -- The integration of the Sleep Train organization into Mattress Firm continues as the firm works to drive future growth.

Mattress Firm Holding Corp. announced that Ken Murphy has been promoted to president and Rob Killgore to COO.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. --  Michael McCarthy spent 28 years at Sears Holdings before leaving the company in 2011, but now he is back in new senior level role at the Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores.

In 2012, Sears Holding spun off the Hometown and Outlet division, which is now the operator of 1,215 hardware, appliance and outlet stores and a separate publicly held company.