OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Another first for Amazon
In its ongoing quest to speed up delivery for its customers, Amazon has unveiled its first “Prime Air” branded delivery plane. The plane is a Boeing 767-300, owned and operated by Atlas Air, that has been converted into a freighter. Named Amazon One, the plane is one of 40 that Amazon has agreed to lease through air cargo partners Atlas and ATSG.
Academy Sports names Walmart’s Gloeckler as merchandising chief
Top Walmart executive Michelle Gloeckler, who landed 38th on Fortune’s list of most powerful women last year, will leave Bentonville to take over as executive VP and chief merchandising officer at Academy Sports + Outdoors.

Capitol Hill veteran joins RILA’s government affairs team

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has named Even Armstrong as VP of government affairs, effective Aug. 1. Armstrong will lead advocacy efforts related to workforce and employment issues before Congress and federal agencies, including the Department of Labor (DOL), the EEOC and NLRB.
Study: Cost reduction a top priority of retailers

Retailers are focused on getting leaner. That’s according to a new study by Accenture, in which 88% of retailers said they were focused on cost reduction to free up funds necessary to reinvest in growth initiatives. As for where they are those cost savings, the top three areas were expanding into new geographies (cited by 60%), digital technologies (54%) and enhancing customer experiences (52%).
Interview: Target CIO aligns IT around customer

Since taking over as CIO of Target Corp. in February 2015, Mike McNamara has been aggressively developing a new operational model for IT.
Victoria’s Secret exec joining department store retailer

Belk Inc. is expanding its senior leadership team. The company, which operates 293 stores in 16 Southern states, named Randy Whitaker as executive VP, chief stores officer, effective June 27. He comes to Belk after more than 15 years at Victoria’s Secret, having most recently served as executive VP of store operations. His previous roles at Victoria’s Secret include senior VP of finance, real estate and stores, and VP of real estate integration.
Cosmetic giant names its first-ever chief retail officer

L'Oreal USA appointed of Marc-Alexandre Risch to the newly created position of chief retail officer for L'Oreal USA. The appointments comes as L’Oreal’s retail banners, which include Kiehl’s, are expanding. Risch will responsible for supporting the organization with retail operations leadership and knowledge, developing back-office retail operations solutions, systems and synergies across the company, and helping to establish seamless, omnichannel consumer experiences across L'Oreal USA's brand portfolio.
Gordmans grabs Bon Ton ops exec

Veteran Bon-Ton Stores executive Michael Ricart has joined value-priced department store chain Gordman’s Stores as senior vice president of stores.
What keeps small retailers up at night …
Survey: Low-tech online fraud detection remains popular

Manual security remains prominent among North American retailers despite a predicted increase in fraud related to card not present (CNP) transactions.