OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Hackers hit pizza chain through POS vendor
Elgin, Ill. – The latest retail breach to become public knowledge targeted a small chain, but involved a third-party vendor.

Village Pizza & Pub, a two-store local pizza chain headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, was notified on July 27 of a security breach by TransformPOS, the company that provides its POS payment card processing system.
How Video Verification Will Shape the Future of Retail Security

Whether it’s a blustery storm that rattles your windows, or an employee who forgot their keys behind the counter, everyone has experienced the initial panic that ensues after accidentally tripping a security system alarm.

Kroger has jobs for 20,000 veterans

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. has about 20,000 open positions it would like to fill with veterans and their relatives.

Kroger is holding open interviews for veterans and their families on Tuesday, Sept. 15 for 20,000 permanent positions across all of its supermarket banners.
BJ’s taps Hess Retail CEO as president, COO; successor to current CEO

Westborough, Mass. – Has BJ’s Wholesale Club found its next CEO?

The retailer named Christopher Baldwin, former CEO of Hess Retail, as president and COO, a position in which Baldwin is poised to succeed Laura Sen, current CEO of BJ’s.

Baldwin will assume his new responsibilities at the chain on Sept. 8, where he will oversee merchandising, logistics, membership, marketing club operations.
NRLB ruling seen as easing way for unions

New York -- In a long-awaited decision, the National Labor Relations Board has made it easier for contract workers and other temporary employees to more easily unionize.

Business groups and associations, including the National Retail Federation, criticized the decision.
NRF calls NLRB ruling a ‘roadblock’ to job creation

Washington — The National Retail Federation wasted no time responding to a ruling by the National Labor Relations board concerning the redefinition of the concept of joint employees.

NRF and other business groups are concerned that the redefinition could be used to make large businesses and franchisors responsible for the actions of subcontractors or local franchisees even when they do not exercise direct control over those companies’ employees.
Gap to end controversial scheduling practice

San Francisco — Gap Inc. is the latest retailer to say it will cease the practice of assigning store employees on-call shifts with little advance notice.

Gap joins other chains such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret in pledging to eliminate the practice from its stores.
Bon-Ton increases e-commerce support

Milwaukee - The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. is increasing its support of e-commerce with a new 743,000-sq.-ft. direct-to-consumer fulfillment center.

The facility, which began transitioning fulfillment operations in June, supports the company’s expanding e-commerce business and omnichannel growth plans.
DirectBuy relaunches member site

Merrillville, Ind. – Buying club retailer DirectBuy is launching a new “My DirectBuy” member website. The relaunched e-commerce site includes personalized content recommendations and improved search, as well as a mobile-friendly design.

These enhancements came directly from ongoing research into consumer insights and by gathering feedback from members.
Target explains chip cards to customers

New York -- Target Corp. has finished EMV conversion at the point-of-sale. And the retailer is letting customers in on the news.

The chain has posted an article, “Chip Cards at Target: Five Things You Need to Know Before You Check Out,” and related video on its blog.

In the posting, Target gives customers some advice for using chip cards, including that they leave the card in the card reader until prompted to remove it.