Human Resources

Walmart is reportedly planning to substantially expand its e-commerce operation based in Sunnyvale, California. According to the Oakland Tribune, Walmart intends to add hundreds of staffers to its global e-commerce unit there, bringing the total number of e-commerce employees to about 1,000.
 
In addition, Walmart will lease a 107,000-sq.-ft. space in Sunnyvale to help house its e-commerce operations. Currently, the retailer employs about 550 e-commerce employees in Sunnyvale at an existing facility it will maintain.

Dole announced a succession plan for two of its operational divisions, which includes internal candidates transitioning to more substantial leadership roles.

“We have implemented the following succession plan at two of our operating divisions,” said Michael Carter, Dole’s president and chief operating officer. “David Murdock and I are pleased to have the following internal successors at our Vegetables and North America Fresh Fruit divisions:

Chicago – In many cases retailers have to come to expect “job-hoppers” who frequently change jobs, but in many cases they also avoid them. More than half of 182 retail hiring managers and human resource professionals (54%) polled in a recent CareerBuilder survey said they have hired a job-hopper and more than one-third (36%) said they have come to expect workers to job-hop.

Toronto – Sears Canada more than doubled its net loss year-over-year to $75.2 million, from $31.2 million in a difficult first quarter of fiscal 2014. Expenses related to the closure of stores and severance of personnel played a major role in the growth of the retailer’s net loss.

Despite the massive data breach that hurt Target’s fourth quarter, people are not staying away from the retailer. According to a Reuters report, the company saw a dramatic improvement in traffic in the first quarter compared to its late fourth-quarter trends.

Boston — Gordon Brothers Group, an advisory investment firm specializing in the retail, consumer products, industrial and real estate sectors, has named Michael P. Muldowney to the post of CFO. He will work with all business units on transactional, strategic, financial and operational initiatives. Muldowney will also serve as a member of the executive committee.

Atlanta – Lease-to-own retailer Aaron’s Inc. has named Sharon Lawrence VP finance and Kirby Salgado as VP merchandising. Lawrence, formerly Aaron's director of franchise finance, joined Aaron's in 2012 after a 25-plus year career at SunTrust Bank, while Salgado most recently served as VP/general merchandise manager for Sears Holdings.

Mooresville, N.C. – Lowe’s Companies Inc. had a generally successful first quarter fiscal 2014 with earnings and sales both rising from the same period a year earlier, although sales missed Wall Street estimates. Net earnings rose 16% to $624 million from $540 million, while net sales increased 2% to $13.4 million from $13.1 million and same-store sales climbed 0.9%.