OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York – L’Oreal cosmetics brand Urban Decay has partnered with Compare Metrics to launch its online product discovery solution. The Compare Metrics solution for Urban Decay includes content curation, adaptive navigation and shopping scenarios. 

New York - Michael J. Kowalski, CEO of Tiffany and Co., will retire from the company effective March 31, 2015. Kowalski, who has been with Tiffany for 30 years and a member of the company’s board of directors since 1995, will continue to serve on the board in the role of non-executive chairman.

Tiffany has named Frederic Cumenal, currently the company’s president, to succeed Kowalski as CEO effective April 1, 2015. Kowalski, 62, joined Tiffany in 1983, became CEO in 1999 and assumed the role of chairman of the board in 2003.

New York -- British retailing giant Tesco Plc on Monday said CEO Philip Clarke would step down in October, to be replaced by 27-year Unilever executive Dave Lewis, with the change effective Oct. 1. Clarke, who has been with Tesco for 40 years, will remain with the retailer until January 2015.

Also on Monday, Tesco said recent sales had been more challenging than anticipated and its profit in the first half of its financial year would be below expectations. It was the second profit warning issued since Clarke took the reins of the company in March 2011.

New York -- Karl Albrecht, who along with his brother Theo, created the Aldi supermarket chain from a small shop owned by his mother, has died at the age of 94, the New York Times reported.  

Click here for the full story.

San Francisco - DHgate.com, an e-commerce marketplace focused on cross-border trade of Chinese goods, has hired several new executives. These include COO Noah Herschmann, who previously held management roles at Amazon, Groupon, Asia, Staples China and Tweeter.

New York -- Greg Buzek, president of IHL, which tracks mobile spending and forecasts for the retail and hospitality markets, offers analysis on the recently announced IBM-Apple partnership:
 
If IBM and Apple for retail were people on Facebook right now, the relationship status would say “It’s complicated."

Tewksbury, Mass. – Although no promise has been made to rehire ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, a rally at the corporate headquarters of Demoulas Super Markets Inc. is replacing a previously planned employee walkout. Employees of Demoulas’ Market Basket chain had threatened to stage a walkout on July 18 in protest of Demoulas’ removal as CEO in June.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma announced the hiring of Ronald R. Young as senior VP global. Young will grow the portfolio of Williams-Sonoma brands outside the United States.