OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York -- Sears Holdings Corp. is hoping to spark a turnaround in its struggling Hometown and Outlet Stores division with a 51-store refresh program that starts with seven stores in Arizona.

The store refresh includes a new product assortment, redesigned merchandising, new fixtures & signage, and comprehensive employee training, among other changes.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart's Sam's Club division is launching new, high-value services for small-business owners as it looks to differentiate itself from Costco while fending off competition from well-capitalized online startup Jet.com.

Framingham, Mass. – Bernard Cammarata, 75, founder and chairman of The TJX Companies Inc., will retire June 11, 2015 after nearly 40 years with the company. Carol Meyrowitz, 61, who has served as CEO of TJX since January 2007, been a board director since 2006 and joined the company in 1983, will succeed him as chairman.

Montreal – Canadian grocery retailer Metro Inc. is interested in purchasing some of the 133 Canadian stores Target Corp. finished closing earlier this month. In an April 22 conference call with investors, Metro said the possibility exists that it will try to purchase certain former Target stores.

"There are a few of those stores that could be of interest to us down the road if they become available," Eric La Fleche, CEO of Metro, said during the call.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- HSN, Inc. has appointed John Aylward as executive VP and chief marketing officer for HSN, an operating division of the $3.6 billion interactive multichannel retailer.

Carbondale, Colo. -- Casey Sheahan, former CEO of Patagonia, has joined FastG8, a digital media company focused on driving e-commerce for brands in the outdoor and active lifestyle marketplaces.

Also joining the form is Zohar Ziv, who retired from Deckers Outdoor Corporation in January, where he most recently held the title of COO. He has also served as CFO for Deckers.

Los Angeles -- Frederick's of Hollywood Group filed Chapter 11 after earlier closing all of its 94 remailing stores and entering into an agreement to sell its online business, inventory and intellectual property to Authentic Brands Group LLC for a reported $22.5 million.

Founded in 1947, the privately held retailer of sexy lingerie cited competition (it faced an especially formidable rival in Victoria’s Secret), decreased mall traffic and leases in its filing. It listed $36.5 million in assets and $106 million in debt.

Washington, D.C. - The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is seeking an injunction from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. relating to the closure of five stores due to alleged plumbing problems. The UFCW wants the NLRB to force Wal-Mart to rehire 2,200 store employees who are currently on paid leave while the stores are closed for what Wal-Mart says are necessary plumbing repairs.