OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Vancouver -- LightHaus  announced that Foot Locker has deployed the LightHaus Visual Customer Intelligence (VCI) solution to measure customer traffic and sales conversion rates at all of its Champs Sports stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as its Foot Locker Canada stores. The chain is adopting LightHaus VCI in stores in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s Inc. said it plans to hire approximately 80,000 seasonal associates for its Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide for the 2012 holiday season. This is an increase of about 2.5% from last year.

Lincoln, Neb. -- Nebraska Book Co. said Friday it has hired Bill Zeuch as senior VP merchandising and marketing for the 250-unit chain of college bookstores, effective Oct. 3.

Zeuch is the former senior VP merchandising, marketing and sales new channels at OfficeMax.

In his position with Nebraska Book Co., he will focus on merchandising, branding and selling initiatives to expand assortments and grow long-term market share.

Brentwood, Tenn. -- Tractor Supply Co. said Thursday that, as part of its planned management succession, current president and COO Gregory Sandfort will assume the role of president and CEO, effective Jan. 1. He will also be appointed to the board of directors at that time.

Current chairman and CEO James Wright will be appointed executive chairman of the board with a one-year term.

Prior to his tenure at Tractor Supply, Sandfort was president and COO of Michaels Stores.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Convenient access to the information that drives purchase decisions is the main reason shoppers go online, according to a new survey conducted by the e-tailing group and sponsored by Oracle. Eighty-one percent of the respondents said that ease of research and comparison shopping were the top reasons they shop online. And increasingly, they are doing it across product categories, including staples. Seventy-five percent research tech purchases online before deciding to buy, and 50% said they do the same for commodity products.

New York -- A new report from PwC US and Kantar Retail suggests that the retail industry may be transitioning to a 'post-modern' consumer-centric era triggered by the speed of technological advancements, globalization and hyper-competition, both online and offline.

The Retailing 2020 report recommended that successful retailers will need to transform themselves to grow in an increasingly polarized world of greater channel fragmentation that will result in greater non-store retail growth and smaller retail formats.

Dodgeville, Wis. -- A Wednesday report by the Wisconsin State Journal said that Lands End plans to cut nearly 200 jobs in its headquarters town of Dodgeville, Wis., by the end of January.

Blaming growth of its online business at the expense of bricks-and-mortar stores, Lands End said it is culling its call center workforce by 29% and streamlining other operations. Fifty of the eliminated positions are corporate headquarters jobs and 25 are from the call center. All cuts were made Wednesday.

Seattle -- Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile said Thursday it has launched two new websites that cater to French- and Spanish-speaking shoppers. The sites also take purchases in the preferred currencies.

“Constantly improving our service and shopping experience for our international customers is one of our primary goals, and I am thrilled with the launch of our French and Spanish language websites,” said Vijay Talwar, Blue Nile president and general manager of International.