Supply Chain & Merchandising

Albany, N.Y. - Trans World Entertainment Corp., owner of the FYE music and video chain, named Michael Feurer as CEO. Feurer, who succeeds longtime Trans World leader and founder Robert J. Higgens, most recently served as CEO and president of Vanity Stores. Higgins announced in March he was retiring.

Ventura, Calif. – Outdoor apparel retailer Patagonia has been awarded the Supply Chain Innovation Award from supply chain management technology provider GT Nexus for continued efforts in creating a responsible supply chain. The Supply Chain Innovation Award recognizes Patagonia's commitment to partnering with its suppliers as it improves supply chain processes.

Meijer is preparing to hire thousands of new employees for its stores as the growing company prepares for the fall and holiday selling seasons, announced Janet Emerson, EVP of operations for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer.

"Meijer is always looking for good people," Emerson said. "Our continued growth provides a great opportunity to find new team members who will help deliver on the Meijer promise of providing exceptional customer service."

Staples has enhanced its omnichannel offerings, enabling small business owners to buy products online and pick them up in stores within hours, pay online via Visa Checkout, use in-store kiosks and download and use a dedicated iPad app.

Chicago -- Men’s lifestyle retailer Haberdash will unveil a new retail "Convergence" concept at its store at the Roosevelt Collection in Chicago's South Loop.

The "Convergence" model integrates the company's daily e-commerce operations into the store location; photo studio, pick, pack and ship and client services.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced the relocation of the Chicago office to 155 N. Wacker Drive, where the Chicago team will continue to provide retail real estate services to clients in metro Chicago and across the Midwest.

The new SRS Chicago office is located in downtown Chicago in a LEED-Gold certified building just a few footsteps from the Chicago River.

Improved sales in Pacific Sunwear’s men’s division helped bolster the company’s earnings for the second quarter ended Aug. 2.

The company reported earnings of $7.5 million for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $19.2 million in the year-ago period. Comparable store sales inched up 0.3%.

Revenue for the quarter was a better-than-expected $211.7 million, up from $210.1 million last year.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney Company is launching a new online sports store on its e-commerce site that will be powered by Fanatics, an online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise. Fanatics, which operates the e-commerce platform for hundreds of collegiate and professional sports teams, leagues and media sites, will provide fans with a selection of team sports apparel and merchandise at JCPenney.com, offering more than 300,000 licensed products spanning all the major sports leagues.