OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Chicago -- Commercial real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle will complete the rebrand, design and build-out of retail locations for mobile communications provider NII Holdings for its licensed Nextel brand in Latin America as part of a turnkey brand implementation strategy.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us has named the leadership team for its retail business operations in Southeast Asia and Greater China, following the recent announcement of its new joint venture agreement with Li & Fung Retailing. With this agreement, the existing Toys “R” Us business operations in the region, which had previously been licensed, are now majority owned and controlled by Toys “R” Us.

Houston -- ATM owner Cardtronics said Wednesday it has signed an agreement to provide ATM services to grocer Harris Teeter.

As part of the agreement, Cardtronics has initially installed 100 ATMs for Harris Teeter in Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Additionally, the agreement provides Cardtronics the exclusive right to install ATMs in new Harris Teeter stores, as well as to transition all existing non-bank branch cash machines at Harris Teeter stores to Cardtronics' ATMs, over time.
 

Canton, Mass. -- Casual Male Retail Group said Wednesday that it has launched e-commerce site DestinationXL.com, created in tandem with e-commerce and digital marketing firm Acquity Group.

The new site includes a built-in size profiler – a customization tool that allows customers to enter and save their size specifications for either current or future shopping experiences.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said Wednesday it is offering an early previous of its Black Friday deals.

The retailer will begin previewing special deals on Wednesday, and will hold an early holiday sale beginning Nov. 5.

The Black Friday preview for specials in electronics, toys and apparel will be available to shoppers who sign up at Walmart.com or the store's Facebook page, according to the company.

New York City -- United Healthcare on Wednesday opened its first comprehensive health-benefits store, in Flushing, N.Y. The insurer said the 16,000-sq.-ft. store will serve as a model for future UnitedHealthcare consumer-support centers.

The new UnitedHealthcare Asian Plaza center will provide residents with information and customer service on a variety of UnitedHealthcare benefits programs, as well as health-and-wellness services and free public health education programs. It is especially geared to the area’s many Asian-American residents.

Chicago -- A Wednesday report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that job cuts announced by U.S. employers increased in October from the same month last year.

According to the report, planned firings rose 13% to 42,759, from 37,986 in October 2010, boosted by job cuts by government agencies and financial companies.

Omaha, Neb. -- Apparel and home fashions retailer Gordmans Stores said Wednesday it has named Michael Wirkkala as executive VP operations and COO.

Wirkkala was previously VP of store operations for Charming Charlie. He also worked for Macy’s for three decades.