News

Another high-profile Target exit: Grocery chief leaving
That was fast. Anne Dament, senior VP of grocery merchandising for Target Corp., is leaving the chain, after less than 18 months on the job. Her last day will be Nov. 18. Damen’s exit will mark the third high-level executive departure at Target in less than three months. In August, the chain’s chief marketing officer, Jeff Jones, resigned to join Uber. And in September, chief digital officer Jason Goldberger left.
Holiday forecast: Digital promotions to help drive in-store purchases
Holiday spending is expected to spike by a solid 4%. That’s according to the “2016 Holiday Season Forecast,” an annual report from investment firm JLL that is based on responses from 2,800 shoppers across 31 shopping centers.

Gap finance chief to depart

The CFO of Gap Inc. is leaving the company after serving in the role for nearly a decade. The retailer announced that executive VP and CFO Sabrina Simmons is leaving. She will remain through the end of the company’s 2016 fiscal year, "ensuring a seamless transition over the coming months."
Report: Disillusioned Black Friday shoppers will head online

Black Friday may be considered one of the biggest shopping events of the year, but interest among consumers continues to dwindle. Specifically, 31% of respondents in the United States said they have always disliked shopping on Black Friday, and 29% believe it is simply a marketing trick with retailers manipulating pricing to convince consumers they are getting a good deal.
Name change for P&R Architects

Architectural firm P+R Architects (Perkowitz + Ruth Architects), based in Long Beach, California, has changed its name to Retail Design Collaborative.
First Look: Under Armour, Boston

Under Armour has brought its “brand house” interactive store format to Boston, opening a location at the Prudential Center. With nearly 19,000-sq.-ft. of retail space across two floors, the store delivers an immersive, engaging brand experience enhanced by state-of-the-art digital displays designed to both inform and inspire.
Sears executive jumps ship for party supplies specialty retailer

Party City has nabbed a 22-year retail veteran to head up its retail operations. Party City Holdco Inc. announced that Ryan Vero has joined the company as executive VP of PCHI and president of Party City retail group. Vero, who will have full responsibility for all of Party City’s North American retail operations, including some 900 brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce, recently served as president, grocery and drugstore at Sears Holdings.
Report: Finish Line looking to sell a 70-store division

Finish Line Inc. is searching for a buyer for its JackRabbit chain of running-shoe stores, Bloomberg reported.
Busting EMV Chargeback Myths – What Merchants Need to Know

After U.S. payment networks implemented a liability shift in October 2015, merchants that did not support EMV became liable for chargebacks from credit card fraud. Many merchants have evaluated their risk based on chargeback history, and some were surprised by their post-shift fraud volume. This gave rise in the industry to various rumors, misinformation and theories about the cause of this change in fraud volume.
Instagram helps its users go shopping

In addition to posting, liking and commenting on photos, Instagram users now can also purchase from their favorite brands. Starting Tuesday, Nov. 1, the mobile-driven social site added shoppable tags on photos from 20 retail brands, including Kate Spade, Warby Parker and JackThreads, among others — a move that will enable consumers to learn more about the items they view within an Instagram post, and even make a purchase.
A new era: Walmart’s e-commerce management shakeup

Walmart’s $3.3 billion purchase of e-commerce startup jet.com has spurred a shakeup across the retail giant’s digital operations. Exiting the chain are Fernando Madeira, president and CEO of Walmart.com, and Dianne Mills, senior VP of global e-commerce human resources. (As previously announced, Neil Ashe, president and CEO of global e-commerce, is also leaving).
More bad news for American Apparel

The hits keep on coming for the embattled American Apparel Inc., which is reportedly on the brink of its second bankruptcy filing in less than two years.