Retail

Grapevine, Texas – GameStop plans to hire approximately 17,000 employees nationwide as the company prepares for the upcoming PlayStation 4 and Xbox One console launches, as well as the holiday shopping season.

Saks Off 5th has launched its online store, saksoff5th.com. It joins a list of closeout retailers that are getting comfortable in the e-commerce market. The online store will offer up to 55% off merchandise year-round.

By Chase Cornett, [email protected]

The holiday shopping season is just around the corner and soon consumers will be bombarded with buying guides, floods of emails, deep discounts and, of course, that Black Friday competitive spirit. With all the chaos brought on by the holidays, retailers are finding it harder and harder to stand out. The result — strategies that focus on discounts, deliver low profit margins and drive transactions instead of engaged brand experiences.

Lands' End has named Michele Donnan-Martin as the company’s EVP and chief merchandising design officer. Donnan-Martin will report directly to CEO and president Edgar Huber.

She will be charged with leading all aspects of merchandising and design to ensure alignment of product development, price point strategies and design aesthetic to embrace and further build upon the Lands' End's brand. 

New York -- Tesco Plc’s Fresh & Easy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a plan to sell most of the U.S. chain’s 167 stores to a private equity firm led by billionaire Ron Burkle.

Fresh & Easy cited debt between $500 million and $1 billion in a court filing on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. According to the documents, a unit of Tesco will end up with a 22.5% stake in the Yucaipa affiliate that acquires the supermarket chain.

The National Retail Federation has announced the development of a new chief marketing officer council to serve as an advertising and marketing voice for the retail industry. The organization’s Retail Advertising and Marketing Association will transition into the newly created council.

Wichita, Kan. – Rent-A-Center has opened a new store in Kihei, Hawaii. The new Rent-A-Center is located at 1215 S. Kihei Rd., Ste. 3.

“We’re very excited to be here in Kihei,” said store manager Robyn Idemoto. “We’ve gotten a great response from the community. Everyone’s like family out here, and I really like that. I feel that we can bring a lot of positivity to the community.”

Montreal -- Luxury jewelry store operator Birks & Mayors Inc. announced that effective Oct. 1, its corporate name will be changed to Birks Group Inc. and its ticker symbol will be changed to BGI.