News

Walmart has created 78 subsidiaries and branches in 15 offshore tax havens in a bid to cut the corporate giant's taxes on its foreign operations, according to Bloomberg.

The company holds at least $76 billion in assets through shell companies based in the low-tax havens of Luxembourg and the Netherlands, said Bloomberg, who quoted a report by Americans for Tax Fairness, an organization backed by national, state and local labor and community groups.

Alibaba wants to put a robot, specifically one named Pepper, in your home — or store.

Tokyo -- Alibaba wants to put a robot, specifically one named Pepper, in your home — or store.

The Chinese e-commerce giant and Foxconn Technology Group announced they are each investing $117.8 million in Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank’s robotics unit, SoftBank Robotics Holding Corp. Softbank will own 60% of the joint venture, with Alibaba and Foxconn each holding ownership stakes of 20%.

Customers have responded so well to New York & Company’s collaboration with Eva Mendes that the retailer has extended its deal with the Cuban-American actress.

Launches in 2013, the Eva Mendes Collection features five seasonal assortments and 11 unique deliveries a year, which feature apparel and accessories.

The role of IT has shifted dramatically in retail in the past 10-15 years, from a simple automation tool to an enabler of competitive advantage and business transformation. At the same time, the role of the CFO in IT has shifted quite a bit as well, and some top finance executives may feel a little uncertain about their place in the new retail IT landscape.

Brian Kilcourse and Paula Rosenblum, managing partners at RSR Research who have both previously served as retail CIOs, have some advice for today’s retail CFO.

New York -- Women have a real investment hiding in their closets, according to a survey by Alliance Data’s Card Services business, which manages store-brand credit card programs for retailers.

One-fourth of survey respondents indicated the total value of the items in their closet to be from $1,000 to $2,499, and 17% valued the contents between $5,000 and $9,999.  

Home Depot and Lowe’s have nothing on four Ace Hardware operators who were recipients of the retail cooperative’s annual “Coolest Hardware Stores’” awards.

The award is quite a distinction considering there are roughly 4,800 Ace Hardware stores worldwide. This year’s honorees included Henkle’s Ace Hardware (Webb City, Mo.), Islands Ace Hardware (Savannah, Ga.), Miner’s Ace Hardware (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Rocking R Ace Hardware (Harrisonburg, Va.).

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that Target laid off 140 staffers and eliminated 50 open positions at its headquarters on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, the eliminated positions were in places “we identified redundancies or opportunities for greater efficiencies,” Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. 

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