News Briefs

An e-commerce giant is reportedly trimming headcount.

eBay is reducing its workforce by roughly 800 roles, or 6% of its approximately 12,300 total employees, according to CNBC reporting following up on an original article from Bloomberg. The retailer told CNBC it is cutting staff in departments across the organization and determining what jobs to eliminate based on “operating model needs, areas of duplication and alignment to future priorities.”

“We are taking steps to reinvest across our business and align our structure with our strategic priorities, which will affect certain roles across our workforce,” an eBay spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. “We are grateful for the contributions of the employees impacted and are committed to supporting them with care and respect.”

eBay is undertaking this staff reduction initiative about a week after it acquired Depop, a U.K.-based fashion resell marketplace popular with younger consumers around the globe, for approximately $1.2 billion in cash from Etsy. 

At the time it announced the acquisition, eBay said it intends the addition of Depop to accelerate its consumer-to-consumer strategy by deepening its reach with younger, fashion-forward consumers and expanding its presence in resale.

In addition, CNBC reported eBay recently settled a lawsuit filed by a married Massachusetts couple who were harassed by several eBay executives after posting negative commentary about eBay in an online blog they published in 2019.

[Read more: Former eBay employees charged with harassing bloggers]

Terms of the settlement were not released. eBay agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2024, and two eBay executives were sentenced to prison in 2022 for their roles in the harassment.

Chief eBay rival Amazon recently eliminated roughly 16,000 positions across the company, following 14,000 layoffs in October 2025.

One of California’s largest shopping centers has named a new marketing leader.

Tenley Zinke has been tapped as executive director of marketing at Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza, succeeding Debra Gunn Downing, who will retire midyear following a 27-year tenure with the company.

Zinke has an extensive background of marketing and communications-focused roles, most recently serving as VP of corporate communications and community engagement at French luxury giant Kering. Past experience includes roles at LVMH, Tiffany & Co., Net-a-Porter and Ralph Lauren.

[READ MORE: South Coast Plaza welcomes new luxury, dining tenants]

"Between South Coast Plaza's position as one of the world's premier shopping destinations and the stellar reputation of the Segerstrom family, there was no question this role presented an irresistible opportunity to forge the next chapter of my career," said Zinke. "Building on Debra Gunn Downing's legacy, I look forward to carrying forward the deep-rooted relationships with the retailers, restaurants and community organizations for which South Coast Plaza is known."

South Coast Plaza said that under Gunn Downing’s marketing leadership, the center surpassed $2.5 billion in annual sales. 

South Coast Plaza is home to more than 230 boutiques, including Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Loewe, Harry Winston, Celine, Maison Margiela, Gucci, Cartier, Rolex and Graff, as well as critically-acclaimed restaurants. It is located adjacent to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The property will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2027.

Fashion luxury group Capri Holdings is adding a seasoned finance and operations executive to its C-suite.

The parent company of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo has tapped Tyler Reddien as CFO and COO, effective March 30th. In the role, he succeeds Thomas J. Edwards, Jr., who left Capri in May 2025 to join Macy’s.   

Most recently, Reddien served as the CFO of The Body Shop. Previously, he held senior leadership positions at Natura & Co Holding, a global cosmetics and personal care company. He also held executive roles at Hertz.

Earlier in his career, he spent more than a decade at United Airlines in financial planning, investor relations, strategic planning and operations.  

A leading fast-food hamburger chain is bringing real-time, voice-enabled intelligence to its restaurant employees.

In an email to Chain Store Age, Burger King said it is unveiling a new AI-based store operations platform called BK Assistant, which is designed to unify POS, kitchen equipment, inventory, and digital ordering into one command center.

BK Assistant features "Patty," a voice AI bot running on an Open AI base model with Burger King’s proprietary in-house architecture (OpenAI is developer of the generative AI model ChatGPT) that is accessed by employees via cloud-connected headsets. 

Patty supports managers and associates through hands-free, real-time assistance, connecting traditionally siloed systems into a voice-first interface. Use cases include alerting managers to automatically remove items from digital menus and the Burger King app when a product becomes unavailable, supporting on-the-line questions about menu item preparation and product details without interrupting service, and analyzing drive-thru audio to enhance order accuracy and provide performance insights.

[READ MORE: Burger King ups ante with added investment in restaurant modernization plan]

The BK Assistant web and app platform will be available to all U.S. Burger King restaurants by the end of 2026. The retailer is currently piloting the voice-enabled headset experience in 500 restaurants.

The Burger King system operates more than 19,000 locations — including more than 6,700 domestic restaurants — in more than 120 countries and U.S. territories. 

Photo courtesy of Burger King.

Floor & Decor Holdings continues its national expansion.

The specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories for homeowners and professionals plans to open 20 warehouse stores in 2026. The new outposts include Floor & Decor’s second location in New York City, in the borough of Staten Island, which opened its doors in late February.

On the retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Floor & Decor executives said the company aims to have a footprint in every major U.S. market by the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2027, with a long-term goal of 500 warehouse-format stores. (As of Dec. 25, the company operated 270 warehouse-format stores and five design studios across 39 states.)

“Despite pressure on comparable store sales driven by softness in existing home sales activity, we expanded our market share, navigated tariff complexities, increased our gross margin rate, opened 20 new warehouse stores, and delivered year-over-year earnings growth,” said CEO Brad Paulson. “This performance reflects the resilience of our model and our unwavering commitment to disciplined execution and strategic investments in our future.”

Floor & Decor's warehouse stores and design studios feature a wide assortment of in-stock hard-surface flooring, including tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, and natural stone, along with decorative accessories, wall tile, installation materials, and related categories.

A new mixed-use, amateur sports and entertainment district is on its way one of Georgia’s largest cities.

Wisemen Multimedia LLC will soon begin construction of the $480 million EXE Sports complex in Columbus, Ga., the state's second-largest city, which sits adjacent to the border with Alabama. The project will offer a walkable, mixed-use district anchored by hospitality, waterpark attractions, and residential living. Key features include indoor and outdoor multi-sport competition fields, a 1.2-mile racetrack, a waterpark, live event venues, gaming experiences, and family-friendly activations. 

Two four-story multi-family buildings with 600 residences overlooking the Chattahoochee River will be separated by a central plaza, while retail and dining experiences will be positioned throughout the site. A hotel at the property will feature 440 rooms and a 30,000-sq.-ft. convention and event center.  

As the first flagship site of a planned 300-site EXE Sports Enterprise across North America, the development marks the inception of a “scalable model for community-centric sports entertainment destinations,” according to Wisemen Multimedia. Construction is slated to begin in late 2026, with phased openings planned for 2027. 

[READ MORE: Atlanta’s CNN Center to be reopened as The CTR]

“We’re thrilled to bring EXE Sports to Columbus,” said Eric Brown, CEO of Wisemen. “We’re at the early stage, but this project is more than a destination — it represents a bold new chapter of sports tourism. EXE Sports is designed to activate communities year-round, support amateur athletes at every level, and generate sustained economic impact for host cities like Columbus which is already a sports-destination that successfully attracts tournaments annually.”