OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Longtime Genesco president steps down
Genesco Inc. will be on the hunt for a new leader after its longtime president stepped down Tuesday.

The company announced that Genesco senior VP and president Ken Kocher has resigned. Kocher is expected to remain employed by the company in a consulting capacity for up to six months. The company has begun a search for Kocher's successor. In the interim, Genesco chairman, president and CEO Robert J. Dennis will act as the group's president.
Study: Customer experience drives demand for this technology
Consumer demand for more control over their shopping environment is driving growth in one particular technology category.

According to a new study from market research firm Technavio, “Global Self-service Kiosk Market 2016-2020,” the market size of the global self-service kiosk market is predicted to reach close to $18 billion in revenue by 2020. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% between 2016, when the market is expected to be roughly $14 billion, and 2020.

Meijer donates $500,000 to help residents of Flint, Michigan

Meijer is continuing to provide support to Flint with a $500,000 donation to help meet the needs of the city’s residents, who are struggling with contaminated drinking water.

The retailer’s donation will be distributed to three nonprofit organizations that are coordinating a variety of relief efforts related to the ongoing water crisis, including:
Analysis: Why J.C. Penney will win with appliances

Photo: J.C. Penney launched appliances at 22 stores in three test markets this week, including the inviting presentation shown above at a store in Tampa.

Large appliances are back at select J.C. Penney stores after a 30 year hiatus and when – not if – the merchandising initiative is rolled out more broadly the contribution to same store sales growth could be huge.
Kroger elevates two to division president roles

The retirement of Kroger’s Nashville division president Rick Going and the earlier appointment of a new Fred Meyer president gave the supermarket company the opportunity to elevate two other executives.
Target exec joins cybersecurity board

Brad Maiorino, Target senior VP and chief information security officer, is the newest member of the Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC) board of directors.

R-CISC is an organization of more than 50 members representing retail and other consumer-facing companies which provides a network to communicate about cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, and to share best practices in data protection and breach mitigation.
Albertsons personnel move brings together pharmacy, center store

Albertsons announced Tuesday that Mark Panzer, who was named the company's SVP pharmacy, health and wellness in May 2015, has accepted the additional responsibility of leading general merchandise and HABA (health and beauty aid).
Cracker Barrel CEO joins Lowe's board

Lowe's has added a retail veteran to its board of directors who serves on the boards of Dollar General and Books-A-Million.

Lowe's announced that Sandra B. Cochran, 57, has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. The announcement brings Lowe's board of directors to 13 members, 12 of whom are independent.
Macy’s creates two new C-level positions

Macy’s named longtime executive Peter Sachse to a new position with added responsibility for merchandising and said Justin S. MacFarlane joined the company as chief strategy, analytics and innovation officer.

The company said the changes were part of the company’s plan to, “aggressively to grow its omnichannel business based on intensive insight into evolving consumer preferences and changing shopping patterns.”
Vertical shoe retailer steps up store operations

For footwear manufacturer Red Wing Shoe Company, operating more than 500 stores is an added network complexity.

The Red Wing, Minnesota-based company also has a wider variety of in-store needs, such as operating a business-to-business sales environment as well as a direct-to-consumer channel, than many other retailers. Thus, when Red Wing decided to implement Oracle Retail Xstore POS software, it enlisted the help of system integration and development services provider BTM Global.