OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Seattle – The price of subscribing the Amazon Prime preferred shipping program will reportedly increase. According to the Huffington Post, Tom Szkutak, CFO of Amazon, said on a Jan. 30 investors call that the company is considering raising the current $79 yearly fee for Amazon Prime, which includes free two-day shipping, by $20 to $40 in the U.S.

Costa Mesa, Calif. – Anna’s Linens has named company president Scott Gladstone CEO. Founder and former CEO Alan Gladstone will remain as chairman of the board.

Gladstone, 44, joined Anna’s Linens in 2005 and was named president of the company in 2012. Prior to joining Anna’s, Gladstone spent 10 years as president of the U.S. division of Sparco, a global manufacturer of automotive performance products and safety equipment.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee the week of Feb. 3, as lawmakers begin to look into criminal attacks in which millions of consumers’ credit and debit card numbers were stolen.

New York -- In a study of the returns and refunds performance of the 25 largest online retailers, StellaService found that the majority of retailers evaluated aren’t meeting consumer expectations.

StellaService analysts ordered the same product from each retailer to be delivered to the three separate regions of East, West and Midwest. They then returned the product, tracking metrics such as the presence of a prepaid, adhesive return label, total time to receive a return authorization and refund speed. The average refund speed of was 10.7 days.

Washington, D.C. -- President Obama in his State of the Union address last night said he plans to sign an executive order increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour for workers on new government contracts and asked Congress to approve the same increase for all workers — and the National Retail Federation is not happy.

NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay issued a response ahead of the president’s address.

Toronto – Sears Canada, which laid off more than 1,300 employees on Jan. 15, is cutting an additional 624 jobs. In a press release, the retailer said it is modifying its store structure to improve efficiency and increase the effectiveness of the chain of communication between management and the store associate teams within the stores.

Columbus, Ohio – L Brands has named Stephen D. Steinour to its board of directors. Steinour is chairman, president and CEO of Huntington Bancshares Inc., a $59 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

"I am excited to welcome Steve to our board," said Leslie H. Wexner, chairman and CEO of L Brands. "I'm confident that his considerable expertise in business, finance and customer service will provide valuable insight and guidance to our company. We're extremely fortunate that he has joined our team."

Framingham, Mass. - Joe Doody, president North American commercial, has been named vice chairman of Staples, Inc., and Shira Goodman, executive VP, global growth, has been named president, North American commercial of Staples, Inc. Both Doody and Goodman will continue to report to Ron Sargent, chairman and CEO. The appointments are effective February 2.