Labor & Employment

Coppell, Texas – An increase in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses driven by growing costs of advertising, new stores and store support helped Alco Stores Inc. swing to a net loss of $7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 from net earnings of $800,000 a year earlier.

Net sales dropped 6% to $110.7 million, from $117.7 million. Same-store sales declined 8.9%.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys ‘R Us Inc. plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company’s workforce, as it prepares for the 2014 holiday shopping season.

The positions include sales associates, stock crew and omnichannel fulfillment teams, as well as distribution center workers and department managers.

Washington, D.C. -- Real estate brokerage house Cassidy Turley has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings to be acquired for an undisclosed sum. The buyer group is comprised of TPG, PAG Asia Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which is acquiring DTZ and Cassidy Turley, then combining the two into one global company with revenues of more than $2.9 billion and more than 28,200 total employees.

Both acquisitions – of DTZ and of Cassidy Turley – are expected to be completed prior to year-end 2014.

New York -- Winick Realty Group announced that its New Jersey office has expanded, leasing a new location at 4 Commerce Drive in Cranford, which doubles the size of the company’s existing office.

The new 2,500-sq.-ft. office, which is set to open on Oct. 1, will allow the New Jersey branch to eventually accommodate up to 20 brokers and support staff.

Winick Realty Group said it plans to announce several new hires in its New Jersey office shortly after the completion of the move.

The Clorox Company has promoted Nick Vlahos, currently SVP and chief customer officer, to EVP and chief operating officer of household, lifestyle and core global functions, a position previously held by retiring EVP-COO George Roeth.

In this role, Vlahos will have responsibility for the charcoal, Glad, cat litter, food, Brita and Burt's Bees business operating units. He will also have responsibility for the company's marketing, sales, product supply and research and development functions.

YCD Multimedia, a provider of professional digital signage software solutions, has promoted Sam Losar, currently its president of US operations, to CEO.
 
Assuming CEO responsibility from company co-founder Noam Levavi, Losar will be trusted with continuing to expand the growth he achieved in the Americas to its business operations in Europe and Asia.

Noam Levavi co-founded the company in 1999 in Israel and led it for more than a decade.

As part of its efforts to reinvent its business and culture, Staples has opened a health and fitness center at its global corporate headquarters, in Framingham, Massachusetts. It is the latest in a series of updates to the campus, including a cafeteria stocked with healthier food options and a more open and collaborative floor plan, both designed by Business Interiors by Staples.

As part of its holiday strategy, Toys"R"Us plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company's workforce as it continues preparing for the highly contested shopping season ahead.

Just three weeks after Alco appointed a brand new board of directors, the company reported a net loss of $7 million in the second quarter, compared to net earnings of $800,000 a year earlier, thanks in part to growing costs of advertising, new stores and store support.

New York -- British supermarket retailer Tesco suspended four executives, including its U.K. managing director, after revealing that its half-year profit was overstated by $407 million, the BBC reported. The retailer has launched an investigation headed by Deloitte.

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis, who took over the struggling company in September, said the decision to ask employees to stand aside was not an indication of guilt or that disciplinary action was warranted. He declined to speculate on what the investigation might turn up.