OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Veteran J.C. Penney merchant John Tighe has been elevated to fill the role of executive VP and chief merchant held by Liz Sweney who is retiring.

The change, announced Sept. 23, was effective immediately. Tighe and Sweeney joined the company in 2002 and 2000, respectively, and Sweney served as chief merchant since March 2012. She will remain with the company in an advisory role through year end.

REI has promoted Rachel Ligtenberg to VP of retail following a 25-year tenure with the company.

In her new role, she adds retail operations to her current responsibilities of leading store design, visual merchandising and the co-op's flagship strategy.

Ligtenberg will continue to enhance REI's retail experience through new store design concepts to showcase its products, services and educational programs.

Lakeshore Learning Materials, a Carson, California-based specialty retailer of educational materials with about 60 stores nationwide, is taking a smart approach to customer service. The company has selected and implemented Aptos (formerly Epicor Retail) solutions to help streamline and mobilize store operations, and support cross-channel order management and customer engagement.

Kroger’s annual Leadership Summit will begin in unconventional fashion when thousands of employees form a human breast cancer awareness ribbon Sept. 29 on the field of Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

The best means of online fraud remediation is to flag and prevent fraudulent transactions before they are processed. But what are the telltale signs of a fraudulent account?

A new infographic from antifraud software provider Sift Science highlights some common risk factors retailers should look out for. For example, if three other accounts share a shipping address, it is four times more likely to be fraudulent. If two other accounts share the same credit card, it is five times more risky.

Walmart has returned to its acquisitive ways in Silicon Valley with the purchase of PunchTab, a four-year old company with talent and technology to help the retailer’s Sam’s Club division better personalize offers.

Jeremy King, head of WalmartLabs, and Jamie Iannone, president and CEO of Samsclub.com announced the deal to acquire PunchTab in a joint statement on the @WalmartLabs site. The deal involves the purchase of PunchTab’s and six employees who will join WalmartLabs including founder Mehdi Ait Oufkir.

Costco Wholesale Corp. is getting down to business on processing payments from small-to-mid-sized business (SMB) customers.

The wholesale chain is extending an existing relationship with payment processing solutions provider Elavon aimed at improving service and security for SMB members.

The payment processing program for Costco’s SMB members includes POS, mobile and e-commerce solutions, all of which adhere to EMV and PCI compliance requirements. Costco members can obtain program services online and in-store.

Lessons in Leadership is the name of a new documentary film profiling the life and contributions of Food Lion co-founder Ralph Ketner who turned 95 this month.