OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Brampton, Ontario — Shoppers Drug Mart, which was acquired by grocer Loblaw nearly a year ago, is testing the sale of fresh foods in select locations, according to published reports.

Tapping into Loblaw’s strengths and expertise, the Canadian pharmacy retailer is piloting the sale of fresh food in six locations, including fresh produce and meats.

Minneapolis – Although 550 Target Canada headquarters employees are being laid off as Target Corp. prepares to shut down its Canadian venture, the number one person will remain employed. According to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, Target Canada president Mark Schindele will return to the company’s U.S. operation and assume a new position of senior VP of retail properties.

Washington, D.C. – Assorted advocacy groups and professional associations, including the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Merchant Financial Cyber Partnership, are urging the White House to take steps to improve cybersecurity for retail transactions. The public call comes as President Obama convenes a daylong Cybersecurity Summit at Stanford University on Feb. 13. The summit, which will include a keynote speech by the president, is part of a renewed drive to combat cyber hackers.

Hudson, Ohio -- Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has named a 25-year retailing veteran, former Shopko exec Jill Soltau, as president, CEO and a member of the board, effective March 2. She succeeds Jim Kerr, who has served as interim CEO since August when Travis Smith stepped down. Kerr will continue as executive VP and CFO.

Washington, D.C. – President Obama is not pleased with how Staples and other large U.S. companies are handling employee health benefits. In an interview with BuzzFeed, Obama said that Staples and other corporations should not use the Affordable Care Act as an excuse to reduce employee hours or wages.

Charlotte, N.C. – Family Dollar Stores Inc. is putting its head in a cloud in order to clear its operations. As part of a three-year agreement, Family Dollar has licensed Cloud360, Cognizant's proprietary, enterprise-class cloud management platform developed on Amazon Web Services for its portal applications.

New York -- Target Corp. plans to lay off about 550 headquarters employees as the company winds down its Canadian operations, the Star Tribune reported Wednesday. The retailer is also eliminating 170 positions at its tech operations in India that supported the Canadian venture.

About 350 of the headquarters job are being eliminated Wednesday, with the remaining employees to be let go after Target’s stores in Canada are liquidated.

Mississauga, Canada – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly expanding its Canadian operation, even as chief rival Target is exiting the country after spending $4 billion in an effort to open stores there. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart plans to spend $270 million on building 29 new Canadian supercenters and an expanded distribution network to support them.