OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Gap to outdo Walmart in holiday hires; plans Holiday Hiring Blitz events nationwide
San Francisco -- Gap Inc. plans to hire more than 63,000 seasonal associates—more than Walmart—at its stores, call centers and distribution centers nationwide for the 2014 holiday season. (Walmart previously announced it was hiring 60,000 seasonal associates.)
Operationalizing Better Assortment Practices
By Steven Pinder, Tom White and Kurt Kendall Retailers are being squeezed by growing consumer individualism, globalization and evolving preferences. These pan-industry pressure points are causing a proliferation of SKUs that retailers must now nimbly administer. And with online competition eating into already-low margins, the challenge for brick-and-mortar retailers is clear: Find a better way to manage assortment practices.

Kmart hit by data breach

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Kmart is the latest retailer to be hit by a payment data breach. The breach was discovered last Thursday by the chain’s information technology team, and the company immediately launched an investigation with a leading security firm, according to Kmart’s parent company, Sears Holdings Corp.
J.C. Penney names Home Depot VP of stores as president and next CEO

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney on Monday appointed Marvin Ellison president and CEO-designee, effective Nov. 1. Ellison, executive VP of stores for Home Depot, will also join the company’s board of directors.

Ellison, 49, will succeed Mike Ullman, III, as CEO of Penney on Aug. 1, 2015, when Ullman will become executive chairman of the board for one year.
Experts weigh in on Kmart breach

New York -- The news of the recent security breach at Kmart stores generated lots of comments from security experts. Here is a roundup:
Survey: Retailers disappoint consumers with online services

London - Online retailers provide delivery options shoppers don’t want, and don’t offer the ones they do. According to new research from software company OrderDynamics and Opinion Matters, more than half of online shoppers (54%) want a named delivery date, but only 15% of retailers currently offer it.
NRF: Imports to surge before holidays

Washington, D.C. - Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to see a final surge and set a new monthly record in October as the holiday season approaches. According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, import volume at U.S. ports covered by the Global Port Tracker report is expected to total 1.53 million containers in October, topping the 1.52 million monthly record set in August.
Premier Store Fixtures names CEO

Hauppauge, N.Y. - Premier Store Fixtures, a provider of interior fixtures for the retail industry, has appointed Richard Winter as CEO and a member of the board of directors. Winter has more than 25 years of senior executive experience in the store fixtures industry, including serving as the sector president of The Marmon Group’s retail services division.
UPS to expand home package deliveries

Atlanta -- United Parcel Service Inc. said it will expand UPS My Choice and the UPS Access Point network, two of the company’s services that work together to provide online shoppers and global retailers with new personalized solutions to manage residential package deliveries.

UPS My Choice, the customizable online and mobile service where consumers choose delivery preferences and more, will now be available to consumers in 15 additional countries throughout North America and Europe. The service was introduced in the U.S. in 2011.
Toys ‘R’ Us taps former Staples exec as managing director, Europe

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us has appointed Michael Melzer as managing director, Central Europe, responsible for the company’s operations throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including 91 stores and four e-commerce sites.

Melzer previously served as managing director of Staples in Germany, overseeing both its retail stores and online business. Before that, he spent five years with the department store chain Karstadt, first as director, corporate development and later as managing director of its e-commerce business.