Target, Inc.

Target is the latest major retailer to announce it will stop offering health insurance to its part-time employees. In a company blog post on Jan. 21, Target said it will no longer provide health insurance coverage to part time workers after April 1.

Adconion Direct, a leading global cross-channel digital advertising company, has named Nathan Jokinen as VP of strategic development. Jokinen spent nearly a decade in business development and digital strategy at Target.

A 20,000-sq.-ft. store called TargetExpress is set to become the newest addition to the retailer’s portfolio of formats when it opens this July in downtown Minneapolis.

In an interview with The New York Times, Target EVP for property development John Griffith said Target signed a lease last week for a space on the ground floor of an apartment building called the Marshall which is under construction near the University of Minnesota campus. The store is scheduled to open July 27.

The malicious attack on Target which resulted in a massive data breach has spawned a “we’re all in this together” attitude among the nation’s retailers with the National Retail Federation spearheading the charge for common sense consumer protection measures.

Foremost among them is usage of the more secure Chip and PIN technology in credit and debit cards that offers better encryption of data than the magnetic stripe cards that are prevalent in the U.S.

As the holiday dust clears and we settle into a new year, it’s only fitting that retailers take a moment to reflect on successes of 2013 and identify opportunities for 2014. How can we be more efficient this year? Can we waste less while producing more? Where can we make simple adjustments that add up to big bottom line savings?

Coty has announced that Brian Falcone will serve as SVP sales, overseeing all sales activities for Coty Beauty U.S. mass brands.

Falcone will be responsible for field sales, customer marketing, category management, wall strategy and fixture planning.

In November of last year, Target opened a popup store featuring an exclusive collection of bath and body products by Sonia Kashuk in New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Now the retailer is preparing to launch an exclusive line of Sonia Kashuk makeup, beauty tools and cosmetic bags in March.

Target is investing $5 million in a coalition of cyber-security organizations to launch a marketing campaign to educate the public about phishing scams and security.

The coalition includes the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, the National Cyber Security Alliance and Better Business Bureaus.

"Cyber-security is fast becoming one of the biggest marketplace challenges for businesses and a huge concern for their customers," Council of Better Business Bureaus president and CEO Mary Power said.