News

Manners mistress Emily Post wouldn’t recognize today’s social skills.

Communication styles have changed, with the once-mandatory handwritten thank-you note supplanted by a tweet or a family email blast. These days, good table manners are far less important than proper posting protocol.

Jim Crowcroft, VP market development, TCP Inc., Aurora, Ohio, [email protected].

With 'intelligent design' emerging as yet another buzz phrase in an industry full of them, Chain Store Age talked with Jim Crowcroft about how TCP incorporates smart design into its lighting products and projects, as well as what hot lighting trends he is seeing for 2013.

What do you see as the main elements of intelligent lighting design?

Conviction records must be weighed with caution under new EEOC guidelines

The use of criminal background checks by employers is being closely watched.

High-traction flooring materials are key in reducing risk

Slip-and-fall accidents in public places, including retail stores, are the leading cause of premise liability injuries and rank among facilities managers' top management issues. And with the elderly particularly vulnerable to falls, the size and scope of the problem is likely to grow in the near future given the aging of the baby boomers.

ARMONK, N.Y. — IBM has opened its Customer Experience Lab in New York with the goal of helping business leaders transform the way customers experience their products, services and brands through the use of mobile, social, cloud and advanced analytics technologies. 

 IBM scientists and business consultants will co-create with clients to deliver systems that learn and personalize the experiences of each individual customer, identify patterns, preferences and create context from Big Data, and drive scale economics. 

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. — Teen retailer Hot Topic reported net income in the fourth quarter of $12.1 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with net income of $9 million, or 21 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011.

Senior executives from Yahoo! and Ecolab are the newest members of the board of directors at Target.

The retailer late Wednesday announced the addition of Douglas M. Baker, Jr., chairman and CEO of Ecolab Inc., and Henrique De Castro, COO of Yahoo! Inc., to its board, effective immediately.

Baker, 54, is a 24-year veteran at St. Paul, Minn.-based Ecolab. Prior to being named president and CEO in July 2004, Baker held key roles in marketing, sales and general management in both the U.S. and Europe. He became chairman in May 2006.

PHILADELPHIA — The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack has announced that Robert Rosenblatt and Andrea Weiss have joined its board of directors. With these appointments, Pep Boys has increased the current size of its board from seven to nine directors.

NEW YORK — Maybelline New York has launched "City," its first monthly fashion and makeup blog.

BALDWYN, Miss. — Hancock Fabrics has announced that James B. Brown will be joining Hancock Fabrics as EVP and CFO on March 18, reporting to Steve Morgan, president and CEO. Brown will oversee the areas of accounting-finance, loss prevention, IT, human resources, and in addition, will have oversight responsibility to the planning and allocation function.