Strategy

A search is underway for a new CEO to execute a massive transformation at one of the world’s largest retailers. Getting to the interview will require U.S. executives to take a very long flight and the successful applicant will need good listening skills to decipher the accent of co-workers.

Texting and checking social media sites aren’t on any retailer’s job description for store level hourly positions, but those and other Internet-enabled activities are sapping the productivity of workers, according to a CareerBuilder study.

The study of 2,175 hiring and human resources managers didn’t look just at the retail industry, but who hasn’t been in a store and seen a smartphone obsessed employed distracted by their device to the detriment of customer service.

Petco is joining the increasingly large group of retailers offering on-demand delivery of their products.

The specialty retailer has teamed with Instacart in a first-of-its-kind partnership in the pet industry. PetcoNow is a new service that gives pet parents the ability to have Petco products delivered directly to their door in as little as one hour.

Jared is introducing an exciting luxury retail experience that aims to shake up the jewelry shopping category.

The retailer is opening its very first Le Vian by Jared store at the Roosevelt Field Mall in New Jersey. The store will be the only place in the world where shoppers can explore all of upscale brand Le Vian’s offerings: from jewelry and timepieces to handbags and scarves, with carefully curated in-store boutiques devoted to each category, all celebrating the attention to detail and innovative design for which the Le Vian brand is known.

Home furnishings retailer West Elm has named a new senior vice president of design for its retail, catalog and online channels.

The company says Johanna Uurasjarvi will lead the product design team and report to West Elm President Jim Brett.

Bringing more than 20 years of fashion design experience and a lifetime of passion for design and global craft, Uurasjarvi joins West Elm from the lifestyle brand, Anthropologie, where she was the executive creative director of product design.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is actively shopping 137 of its stores, including 10 Food Emporium locations in New York City, according to the New York Post.

A&P, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2012, told The Record newspaper on June 16 that the company continues to weigh its options and that it is exploring strategic alternatives.

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Designer clothing and accessories retailer Rent the Runway’s business is dependent on an advanced reverse logistics and transportation network, which is why the company just hired a leading logistic executive from an online competitor.

New York-based Rent the Runway named Chris Halkyard its first ever chief logistics officer to oversee the company’s just-in-time reverse logistics and vertically integrated operating systems.

Federal regulations governing unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, will be in place by this time next year.

Most retailers won’t be ready, but Amazon says it will be as soon as the feds are. Testifying at a congressional hearing on June 17, Paul Misener, Amazon.com’s vice president of global public policy told lawmakers it would be ready to deliver packages via its service branded as Prime Air as soon as federal rules are in place.

Pier 1 Imports reported same store sales growth for the first quarter, which the company’s CEO credited to the completion of an omnichannel transformation.

Always on the hunt for quicker and less costly deliveries, Amazon is considering paying ordinary people (as opposed to shippers such as FedEx or UPS) to deliver packages as part of a crowdsourced delivery program, according to The Wall Street Journal. They would drop off the packages to customers on the way to their own destinations.

The service is referred to internally as "On My Way," the report said, and no other details are available. The report also noted that the plan may not move forward.