OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

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.

Mountain View, Calif. – It’s not just media hype – retailers’ exposure to data breaches really is getting worse. According to the 2015 Internet Threat Report from security technology provider Symantec, 11% of all data breaches Symantec recorded in 2014 hit retailers.

Only the healthcare industry represented a larger share of breaches. In addition, retailers provided a leading 59% of all identities revealed in breaches during 2014. Total breach incidents during the year rose 23% compared to 2013.

New York -- Staples said it has named Peter J. Scala as executive VP, merchandising, effective immediately. Scala will report to Demos Parneros, president, North American stores and online, and will be a member of the company’s executive committee.

Most recently, Scala served as senior VP of merchandising, online marketplace, leading the rapid expansion of Staples’ product assortment to support small and mid-size business customers.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly eliminating the position of zone manager in its stores as part of a plan to strengthen store managers that was first announced in February 2015. According to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart will transfer the responsibilities of zone managers, who oversee multiple departments, to department managers.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. will acquire Accolade Promotion Group (APG), a distributor of promotional products in Canada. The acquisition will build on Staples' position as a distributor of promotional products in North America and will expand the breadth of offering for its customers.

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.

Camp Hill, Pa. - Steve Rempel, who spent 35 years in a variety of executive positions at Safeway, has been named Rite Aid’s senior VP and CIO. In this position, Rempel will have responsibility for all aspects of the company’s technology and information operations, including computer systems, network infrastructure, telecommunications and data security.