Labor & Employment

Minneapolis -- Best Buy on Saturday announced the locations of the 50 stores that it is closing this year, including seven in California, six in Illinois and six in the company’s home state of Minnesota. The chain has already closed two locations: one in Missouri and one in Arizona.

Most of the remaining 48 stores will close by May 12, with three stores scheduled to close this summer.

Walmart should shorten its checkout lines and improve the store experience in Canada prior to the arrival of Target next spring. That was the advice of Diane Briesebois, president and CEO of the Retail Council of Canada who spoke Wednesday at a dinner in Toronto, which preceded Walmart’s annual international meeting for the financial community.

Following her prepared remarks, Briesebois was put on the spot by Walmart International president and CEO Doug McMillon who asked during a question and answer session, “What can we do to improve in this market?”

DALLAS — Neiman Marcus Group announced that Joshua Schulman has been appointed president of Bergdorf Goodman, effective May 7.

Schulman, 40, joins Neiman Marcus from Jimmy Choo where he was CEO. In this role, he oversaw the international expansion of the brand and the growth of jimmychoo.com. Prior to Jimmy Choo, Schulman was president, Kenneth Cole New York, and managing director, international strategic alliances, Gap Inc.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General has pledged its support of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative, which promotes private sector employment for members of the military community.

Washington, D.C. -- Madison Marquette announced Thursday that two of its senior professionals, John-david Franklin (who will represent Pennsylvania, Delaware and Southern New Jersey) and Chuck Taylor (who will represent Florida), have been selected as State Directors by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The volunteer positions are granted annually to industry leaders who are seen to display unique dedication to ICSC goals and mission.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services said it has named Kirk L. Trammell senior director of the firm’s National Retail Group in Palo Alto.

Trammell joined Marcus & Millichap in June 1989. During his career, he has closed more than $1 billion in commercial property transactions, according to the company.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy announced that it is creating a committee to run a global search for a new CEO to replace Brian Dunn, who resigned on Thursday. The retailer said the search could take six to nine months to complete.

The committee will be headed by Kathy J. Higgins Victor, a board member and chairwoman of Best Buy's nominating committee. Six search firms will be interviewed and the final search firm partner will be selected in the next few weeks, the chain said in a statement.

The Canadian consumer is a value conscious, “tough nut to crack,” who is already well-served by existing retailers, according to Diane Briesebois, president and CEO of the Retail Council of Canada, a trade association founded in 1963 that represents retailers that operate more than 45,000 stores and account for 85% of Canadian retail sales.

The Network of Executive Women announced that Walmart U.S. chief operating officer Gisel will be a featured speaker at the organization’s sixth annual Network of Executive Leaders Forum to be held July 31 through Aug. 2 at the Terranea Resort near Los Angeles.

Washington, D.C. -- Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department showed that more Americans than forecast filed applications for jobless benefits last week, reinforcing concern that the labor-market recovery will be slow to develop.

Consumer confidence, however, has held up, as the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 32.8 in the period ended April 8, second only to the prior week’s minus 31.4 as the highest since March 2008.