OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Meijer finds RX for growth with new president
Midwest discounter Meijer tapped a former store pharmacist who worked his way up in the company as its next president.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Meijer announced that Rick Keyes, who joined the company 26 years ago as a pharmacist in Columbus, Ohio, has been appointed as president. He will succeed James Kevin "J.K." Symancyk, who is leaving Meijer, effective Oct. 9, to become the CEO of Texas-based retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Staples says no to Black Thursday
Staples is bucking the Black Thursday trend by making a statement, literally, about closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day in order to allow its customers, employees and their families to enjoy the holiday.

The retailer issued a statement on Thursday saying that despite being open on Thanksgiving Day the past two years, this year it says customers and employees should have the chance to stay home with family and friends. Stores will open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

EMV is here – sort of

The highly anticipated EMV deadline of Oct. 1 has come and gone, leaving many retailers and payment solutions providers to ponder what’s next? As of Oct. 1, 2015, any U.S. retailer that does not have the necessary POS hardware, software, and operational and network protocols in place to process an EMV-compliant chip card transaction faces a shift in fraud liability.
Victoria's Secret vet joins Chico's board of directors

Chico’s is looking to a veteran of Victoria’s Secret to help the company navigate some troubling times. The company announced that Cynthia A. Fields has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. Fields was also appointed to the board's merchant committee.
Omnichannel comes of age with new index

The National Retail Federation and e-digital consultancy FitforCommerce have launched a first-of-its-kind Omnichannel Retail Index to help retailers benchmark against industry best practices.
New CEO Sought at Tuesday Morning

Michael Rouleau was never seen as a long-term leadership solution as Tuesday Morning’s CEO, but the veteran retailer’s abrupt departure with no immediate successor named reveals the off-price retailer lacked a succession plan.

The company said Rouleau, 77, will remain in a consultative capacity until March 31, 2016 and that it had created a new Office of the Chairman led by current Board Chairman Steven Becker to support oversight of the company’s strategic initiatives until a new CEO can be hired.
Former Gap CEO joins eBay board

eBay is turning to the former chief executive of a major specialty retailer to help provide its board of directors some guidance.

Paul Pressler, who served as president and CEO of Gap Inc. from 2002-2007, has been named to eBay’s board and will serve on the Audit Committee as well as the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee.
Old Navy exec sets sail to become CEO of Ralph Lauren

The top executive at Gap Inc.’s fastest growing division, Old Navy, has resigned to become CEO of Ralph Lauren.

Gap Inc. said that Stefan Larsson would step down as global president of Old Navy effective October 2, 2015, and the division would be led on an interim basis by Jill Stanton, executive VP of global product at Old Navy.
Report: The leading type of retailer ready for EMV is…

The mandate for retailers to accept chip-enabled, EMV-compliant payment cards starts Oct. 1. But how ready an individual retailer is may depend on what type of retailer they are.

At least that’s according to a new study from The Strawhecker Group (TSG), which shows that a leading 69% of shoe stores and 59% of department stores have EMV-ready POS terminals .

On the lower end of the spectrum, 24% of bookstores and 23% of stationery stores have EMV-ready terminals. Previous TSG research shows that 27% of all retailers will be EMV-ready by Oct. 1.
NRF: Life will continue with EMV

Despite all the commotion surrounding the Oct. 1 deadline for U.S. retailers to accept EMV-compliant payment cards, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects no drastic shifts to occur.