OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Columbus, Ohio -- Express has announced changes to its board of directors. Michael Archbold, president and COO of Vitamin Shoppe, has been appointed to the board as a class I director, effective Jan. 3.

Archbold joined Vitamin Shoppe in 2007 as CFO and COO. He was promoted to president in 2011. Previously, he was executive VP, CFO and chief administrative officer of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- 7-Eleven Mexico has selected Oracle Retail Merchandising to create a platform for improving retail operations and driving growth across its 1,400 stores throughout the country.

New York City -- Sears has given store associates more than 5,000 Apple iPads and 11,000 iPod touches to track inventory and customer orders, Lou D’Ambrosio, CEO, Sears Holdings Corp., said in a Bloomberg report.

In the article, D’Ambrosio also took on critics who have complained that Sears has not invested enough in its stores. The chain is spending less than a quarter of the $8 a square foot that retailers typically invest to maintain stores, according to International Strategy & Investment Group, according to the report.

Dallas -- PeopleAnswers announced a new agreement in which BJ’s Wholesale Club will use the PeopleAnswers’ solution to help select team members in all locations across 15 eastern states.

New York City -- Sears Holdings Corp. hired Ron Boire, the former president and chief executive of Brookstone Inc. to lead its merchandising and retail stores for both the Sears and Kmart brands. Prior to Brookstone, Boire served as president, U.S. Toys, North America for Toys “R” Us from 2006 to 2009, where he was in charge of merchandising, marketing and operations

"We are in the midst of a transformation of our business, from top to bottom...," Sears CEO Lou D'Ambrosio said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Survey results released Wednesday by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee found that Amazon has continued its trend of high customer service, while other online retail experiences suffered in 2011.

According to ForeSee’s annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index,
Amazon climbed two points to score 88 on the study’s 100-point scale, registering the highest score from any retailer in 14 consecutive studies.

Washington, D.C. -- The Conference Board report, released Tuesday, found that confidence among consumers rose to an eight-month high in December, increasing to 64.5 from a revised 55.2 reading in November.

The index reading exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey and was the highest since April.

Minneapolis -- After a slew of online orders were cancelled in November and December when Best Buy couldn’t keep up with demand, the company issued the following statement on Tuesday:

“What was wrong is that there was an unacceptable delay between order confirmations and cancellations, and for that we are very sorry,” said Susan Busch, senior director of Best Buy’s public relations. “It’s important to note that this was a rare situation based on a high volume of orders over a short period of time.”