OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores has acquired Australian tech start-up Grabble for an undisclosed amount. Founded in January 2010, Grabble provides retailers a point-of-service app for purchases.

The discount giant will make the company part of its recently established Walmart Labs.

 

New York City -- Tiffany & Co. on Monday launched its first annual web-based Corporate Responsibility Report.

The website (tiffany.com/sustainability) details the jeweler’s 2010 sustainability performance, and provides insight into its standards and operations regarding the sourcing of precious materials, as well as includes information on eco-friendly packaging and catalogs.
 

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot said Monday that it has promoted current executive VP, corporate strategy and new business development Steve Schmidt to the position of president international.

Schmidt, who will report to CEO Neil Austrian, will oversee Office Depot’s multichannel International business.

Northbrook, Ill. -- Crate and Barrel announced Friday that its president and CEO Barbara Turf, who is retiring spring 2012, will be succeeded by current company COO Sascha Bopp, who becomes CEO effective April 2012.

Current CB2 director Marta Calle will become president, in charge of merchandising and marketing, and will report to Bopp.

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. announced Friday that it will close about 100 underperforming stores over the next three months, as part of a restructuring plan that also includes format consolidations and workforce reductions.

The women’s apparel retailer said it plans to complete most of the store closings by the end of January 2012, and will accelerate plans to convert or consolidate a number of its existing Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks stores into dual-format stores.

New York City -- A Thursday report by the Wall Street Journal said that new J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson, who recently left Apple to run the department store chain, is recruiting other former Apple players to join the J.C. Penney team.

According to the report, J.C. Penney is nearing a deal with Michael Kramer, former CFO of Apple Retail from 2000 to 2005 and currently CEO of Kellwood Co., to join J.C. Penney as its COO. WSJ cited people familiar with the matter, and said Kramer will start at Penney effective Dec. 1.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said Thursday that it will kick off the holiday season at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving with three Black Friday sale events.

Black Friday circulars were released Thursday via Facebook and walmart.com to promote the early savings, which include specials on electronics and toys.

"Our customers told us they would rather stay up late to shop than get up early, so we're going to hold special events on Thanksgiving and Black Friday," said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising officer, Walmart U.S.

New York City -- Deloitte’s 26th annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends, released Thursday, found that nearly half (48%) of consumers say they most likely will shop for gifts online this holiday season – a 13% increase from last year. 

This makes the Internet the No.1 shopping destination, now tied with discount stores, for the first time since adding the channel to Deloitte’s annual study.