OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York City -- The Home Depot is expanding its use of PayPal, the online payment service of eBay, from the 51 stores in the pilot program to all of the home improvement retailer’s stores, Dow Jones Newswire reported.

Don Kingsborough, PayPal VP for retail and prepaid products, said PayPal should be available at all of Home Depot's approximate 2,000 U.S. locations by the end of next month, according to the report.

Waban, Mass. -- Research released Monday by Temkin Group, which ranked the customer experience at 206 large companies across 18 industries, found that several grocers are offering excellent customer service.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway has named Brian Baer president of its Dominick’s Finer Foods division in the Chicago area.

Baer had been acting president of Dominick’s since last July when the previous president, Don Kperta, resigned.

Baer joined Safeway in 2001 as VP finance for the company’s Phoenix division. In 2008, he was appointed CFO at Dominick’s.

New York City -- Bloomingdale’s said Monday it has launched a new customer loyalty program called Loyallist in all U.S. retail locations and online. 

Los Angeles -- American Apparel appointed Stacey Shulman as chief technology officer effective Feb. 22.

Shulman was previously the company’s VP technology and will have responsibility for American Apparel’s global information and technology operations.

Wayne, N.J. – Babies “R” Us launched the Very Important Baby (V.I.B.) program, designed to allow parents an opportunity to earn a 10% bonus savings on baby essentials.

The complimentary V.I.B. card is much like a debit card and can be used toward purchases of any brand of diapers, wipes, formula and baby food at “R” Us stores nationwide. Every time money is loaded onto the card, Babies “R” Us will add 10% – up to $200 annually. 

Dallas -- Blockbuster parent Dish Network confirmed Thursday that it will close 500 underperforming Blockbuster video stores in the first quarter, which equates to about a third of its stores.

The company, which acquired Blockbuster in 2011, said it plans to expand Dish Services offerings in the remaining Blockbuster stores. It currently offers the services in 150 stores.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma announced Friday the launch of Cultivate.com, a content site and online resource for kitchen inspiration and design.

The new website provides information about kitchen design and remodeling in one single destination, offering consumers advice from kitchen experts, inspirational photos, recommendations for local kitchen professionals, and unique planning tools.