Department Store

New Albany, Ohio - Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is separating its chairman and CEO roles and expanding its board's size to 12 members. The teen retailer is also terminating its shareholder rights plan.

Omaha, Neb. - Department store retailer Gordmans has implemented Oracle Retail solutions to improve the customer experience and deliver on its advertised promise that shoppers will find “something unexpected” with each store visit. Using Oracle Retail software, Gordmans is streamlining the supply chain that supports its expansion throughout the Midwest.

Toronto -- Hudson's Bay Company will sell its flagship in downtown Toronto and neighboring office tower for C$650 million ($587.09 million) to an affiliate of commercial real estate developer Cadillac Fairview Corp., and open a full-line, 150,000-sq.-ft. Saks store in the leased-back space.

Revelations of job cuts at leading retailers, the latest involving Sam’s Club, are a reminder that pro-active expense control remains retailers' best friend when it comes to ensuring profitability when faced with a murky outlook for consumer spending.

Sam’s Club on Friday became the latest retailer to disclose plans to eliminate 2,300 hourly and middle management positions. The move was characterized as a rebalancing of resources, according to Sam’s Club spokesman Bill Durling. Other retailers such as Macy’s and Target also recently announced job cuts.

Dollar General chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling was elected chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) to fill a position held the past two years by Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.

Dreiling’s appointment was announced at RILA’s semi-annual board of directors meeting held Sunday in Naples, Fla. Steinhafel will continue to serve as a member of organization’s executive committee.

Houston -- Francesca's Holdings Corp. announced that in connection with a management restructuring, Theresa Backes, president and COO of Francesca's, will be leaving the company effective Jan. 27.

The board of directors appointed Neill P. Davis, Francesca's CEO, to the additional title of president. The retailer said it will not replace the COO position, and will realign the responsibilities among Davis and other existing executive officers.

Michaels may have been the victim of an attack on its data, but it wasn’t going to wait to find out the way Target and Neiman Marcus did before warning customers.

In a statement laced with the word, “may,” Michaels said it recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at its stores, which it said suggested the company may have experienced a data security attack.

Hudson's Bay Company has appointed Douglas Scovanner as EVP of finance and accounting, on an interim basis. Scovanner will support acting CFO with the day-to-day stewardship of the company’s financial planning, asset protection and accounting functions.

Prior to this appointment, Scovanner spent nearly two decades at Target, most recently as EVP and CFO.