Supply Chain & Merchandising

Foothill Ranch, Calif. -- The Wet Seal announced a workforce reduction resulting in the elimination of a combination of 78 filled and open positions, including  66 positions at the company’s corporate office, or a 24% reduction in headcount, and 12 positions at the field management level, representing a 20% decrease. The cuts are the first steps in the retailer’s initiative to reduce its overall cost structure.   

Manchester, U.K. -- Office Depot has selected the Atlas Products network-based supplier collaboration platform for its European trading operations. The Atlas supplier enablement network, a subsidiary of HighJump Software, provides Office Depot with an electronic platform for collaboration and commerce with more than 4,000 suppliers of goods-for-resale products spanning eight countries and seven languages.   

Price and promotion tracker Brand View has joined the Revionics’ Competitive Data Partner program to enhance the competitive intelligence available to retail clients.

Delhaize America’s new CIO is confident the company will be able to drive sales growth by leveraging technology.

Retail technology veteran Michael Laurenti was named chief information officer at Delhaize America and will assume his new responsibilities on November 17. He most recently served as CIO at the privately held 300 unit Belk Department Stores chain. Prior to Belk, he worked at Family Dollar, Linens 'N Things and Toys "R" Us. Laurenti succeeds Deb Dixson who spent four years at Delhaize America and announced her departure earlier this year.

New York –- Brooks Brothers is currently one-third of the way through an IT transformation based on SAP technology. In a presentation and also in an exclusive one-on-one interview with Chain Store Age at the recent SAP Retail Forum in New York, Sahal S. Laher, executive VP/global CIO of Brooks Brothers, explained how the retailer is becoming a more customer-focused organization.  

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. plans to hire more than 63,000 seasonal associates—more than Walmart—at its stores, call centers and distribution centers nationwide for the 2014 holiday season. (Walmart previously announced it was hiring 60,000 seasonal associates.)  

Ann Arbor, Mich. -– Domino’s Pizza Inc. named Richard E. Allison, 47, president, Domino's International.   Allison has been with the company since 2011 and has led its international division since that time, succeeding Michael T. Lawton, current CFO, who ran the division prior to Allison. Prior to Domino's, Allison spent more than 13 years at Bain & Company, where he was a partner and co-leader of the firm's restaurant practice.