Supply Chain & Merchandising

Walmart has been on a building boom in Northwest Arkansas. Small-format Express stores have been open now for several years, the new convenience concept Walmart To Go opened earlier this year and the latest development is a hybrid concept that allows online grocery orders to be picked up at a dedicated drive-through facility.

New York -- More than half of consumers will spend more for the Halloween holiday than they’ll spend for either Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, according to the 2014 Halloween Happenings Survey by Alliance Data Retail Services, which manages credit card programs.

Some highlights include:

• 67% of consumers buy Halloween candy that they like, in case they want to enjoy a few treats before the tricksters ring the bell.

Sears Canada president and CEO Douglas C. Campbell has resigned his spot so he can return to the United States by the end of the calendar year to tend to personal family issues. The board will commence a search for a new CEO immediately.

Campbell intends to continue as the CEO until Sears Canada names a replacement, but no later than January 1, 2015.

New York -- Upscale women’s apparel and accessories company Tory Burch named longtime retail veteran Roger Farah co-CEO as the fast-growing brand looks to expand into a global player. He will share the title with founder and current CEO Tory Burch who will remain chairman. Burch is also the company's largest shareholder.

Omaha, Neb. - Following a decision to expand into under-served markets across the central U.S., discount department store chain Gordmans Stores has upgraded its legacy IT systems to an Oracle Retail enterprise platform. Working with Oracle Gold partner OLR, Gordmans implemented Oracle Retail solutions including Oracle Retail Merchandising System, Oracle Retail Sales Audit, Oracle Retail Price Management and Oracle Retail Trade Management.

Covington, La. - Smoothie King Franchises Inc. will roll out the Revel Systems iPad POS solution at 700 stores globally in fall 2014. Smoothie King selected the Revel platform for its scalability and ability to streamline operations.

Seattle -- REI will open a nearly 30,000-sq.-ft., two-level store in the Village at Westfield Topanga, Woodland Hills, California, in fall 2015.

"REI Topanga will join five other stores in serving more than 352,000 active REI members in the greater Los Angeles area. More than 62,000 active members reside within 15 miles of the new store.

GameStop plans to hire approximately 25,000 employees nationwide as the company prepares for the upcoming holiday shopping season — nearly double the number of people it hired last year.