Mass Merchant

Walmart is upping some managers’ salaries in anticipation of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule, scheduled to take effect Dec. 1, 2016.     The retailer, the nation’s private employer, raised salaries for entry-level managers from $45,000 to $48,500 annually, Reuters reported, with the increase going into effect in September. Under the new rule, employers are required to pay overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,500 a year. The current threshold is $23,660 a year.    

It’s shaping up as a busy fall for Ross Stores.   The retailer is opening 25 Ross Dress for Less ("Ross") stores and nine dd's Discounts stores across 16 different states in September and October.   The new locations round out the company's expansion plans to add approximately 90 locations in 2016.  

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has appointed a permanent chief merchandising officer.    Sharyn Hejcl has been promoted to executive VP, chief merchandising officer. For the past year, Hejcl served as the interim head of merchandising in conjunction with her role as senior VP, inventory management and supply chain. She will continue to report to the chain’s president and CEO Jill Soltau.  

Watch out, 7-Eleven and other c-store retailers. Amazon is thinking about entering your turf.   Having opened bookstores and with a planned entry into the drive-up grocery store space under construction in Seattle, the Internet giant is now considering opening convenience stores,  reported the Wall Street Journal.   The c-stores, with an internal code name of “Project Como,” would be available only to AmazonFresh subscribers, according to the report.  

Hhgregg Inc. is the latest retailer to give its store employees off for Thanksgiving Day.   The appliances and consumer electronics retailer announced it will close its 220 stores on the holiday, and reopen them at 7 a.m. on Black Friday.  To date, approximately 42 national retailers and the nation’s largest mall have announced they will not be open on turkey day (see list at end of story.)  

It’s no secret that the world’s biggest online retailer is planning to open a drive-up grocery store in its Seattle hometown — at least it hasn’t been a secret since GeekWire reported the news about two months ago.    

The mainstreaming of Manhattan’s once seedy Alphabet City continues apace with the promised arrival of Target on 14th Street and Avenue A.   RKF announced it has concluded a deal for Target to lease 27,000 sq. ft. in one of two seven-story buildings being constructed by Extell Development Company at this location. The mass retailer will occupy 17,700 sq. ft. in the lower level and 9,649 sq. ft. on the ground floor.  

Macerich spent the weekend celebrating the opening of Green Acre Commons, an open-air congregation of big-box retailers adjoining its Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York.   A fixture in the retail scene on the Queens-Nassau County border, the 1.8 million-sq.-ft. mall has served the area for more than 50 years with tenants such as Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Century 21, Express, and American Eagle. Last year, Macerich redeveloped and re-merchandised the south side of the property, creating a new entrance for Old Navy and H&M.