OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York — Coach Inc. will reportedly start offering 25% discounts on its luxury handbags at its stores in twice-a-year sales during June and December. According to Bloomberg, Coach will reduce prices on end-of-season and discount merchandise from 30-50%.

Atlanta — Shapewear wholesaler and retailer Spanx announced that Jan Singer has been named CEO of the company. She joins Spanx from Nike, where she held various senior leadership roles, including corporate VP of global apparel and corporate VP of global footwear.  

Singer, who will report to Spanx founder and owner Sara Blakely, is expected to come on board in early July.  Gregg Ribatt, interim CEO, will assist Singer through a transition, and then continue to serve on the company’s board of advisors.

Washington, D.C. — Import volume at major U.S. container ports is expected to increase 7.5% in June as retailers bring unusually high quantities of merchandise into the country early to avoid any potential disruptions after the labor contract with West Coast dockworkers expires. According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, in June U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker are expected to handle 1.46 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU), up 7.5% year-over-year.

New York — Wal-Mart Stores named  Greg Penner, 44, to the new role of vice chairman, a move that positions him to be a successor to chairman Rob Walton. Penner, 44, is Walton’s son-in-law and has served on the board since 2008. The appointment was announced Friday morning at the company's shareholders' meeting.

The move strengthens the Walton family’s control of the board. Walton, 69, is the son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.  

Fayettville, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO Doug McMillon told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on Friday that the company would accelerate the pace of change going forward. Presiding over over his first shareholders’ meeting since being named chief executive, McMillon put a big emphasis on technology, saying that the chain needs to be “at the forefront of innovation and technology.”

New York -- Barnes & Noble Inc. is teaming up with Samsung Electronics America to develop a new Nook tablet. The co-branded devices will combine the Nook software with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 4 hardware, creating full-service tablets that also can access Barnes & Noble’s collection of more than 3 million books, magazines and newspapers, according to a statement.   

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples announced the opening of its Development Center in downtown Seattle. One of two Staples’ west coast offices, the new center is made-up of e-commerce and engineering teams responsible for driving major initiatives to enhance areas including search, SEO and personalization.

New York -- Mobile shopping, same-day delivery, and growing volumes of data from online channels are forcing retailers to a tipping point to remain competitive and better respond to evolving customer needs and preferences, according to a new research report by Capgemini Group.