OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York -- Target plans to open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to kick of its Black Friday promotional efforts and will follow up with additional deals that become available at 4 a.m.

The company is also rewarding its REDcard holders by allowing them early access to select Black Friday sale items at Target.com.

New York -- Walmart’s U.S. employees will pay between 8% and 36% more in premiums for its medical coverage in 2013, Reuters reported.  

For its most popular plan, which covers individuals, the payment per bi-weekly paycheck is going up by $2, or 13%, the report said. Some other plans would have higher increases.

Dallas -- J.C. Penney announced it will celebrate Black Friday with its only sale of the year. The retailer said more than 1,100 J.C. Penney stores will open their doors at 6 a.m. on Black Friday to offer low prices on gifts for the entire family — with no coupons or rebates required. Associates throughout the store will be equipped with mobile checkout devices.

Ra'Anana, Israel -- Woolworths Limited, Australia's leading retail group, has signed a five-year system integration (SI) services agreement with Retalix Ltd.
 
Under the agreement, Retalix will provide Level 2 and Level 3 support for more than 3,000 Woolworths locations and 25,000 point-of-sale terminals, serving more than 24 million customers every week across Australia and New Zealand.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced it will expand its support of America's military veterans by hiring at least 1,000 military veterans in 2013 to add to the 1,300 hired to date in 2012.

Arlington, Va. – In a letter sent Thursday to President Barack Obama, RILA President Sandy Kennedy argued that the Administration’s failure in a timely manner to provide employers with formal guidance on the most basic of implementation rules for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) jeopardizes employer-sponsored healthcare coverage.

“RILA is extremely concerned that when formal guidance is finally released, employers will not have ample time to plan, budget and implement changes in order to comply with the new law,” said Kennedy.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart will opens its stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than a year ago. The retailer is also guaranteeing shoppers that it will have three of the most popular items it sells if they line up inside the store during a one-hour event that day.

Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy on Thursday expanded the role of two retail field executives as senior VP operations Dennis Palmer, a 37-year retail veteran, announced his retirement.

Effective Nov. 5, Hanley Wheeler, SVP operations has assumed responsibility of CVS/pharmacy’s Western and Southwestern markets while continuing to have responsibility for the company’s retail operations in its Midwest and Southeast markets.