OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Dallas -- Xerox said Wednesday it is expanding its retail services portfolio with the acquisition of Restaurant Technology Services from McDonald’s Corp.

RTS provides service desk support through more than 600 employees, who assist more than 17,000 McDonald’s restaurants located in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and China by resolving technical issues related to point-of-sale equipment, kitchen video devices, and “cashless” credit card processing devices.
      

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. announced Wednesday that its president of digital operations Stephen Gillett is leaving the company to take a COO post at computer security company Symantec, effective Friday.

Best Buy said that Gillett’s responsibilities will now be divided up among CFO Sharon McCollam, online and global e-commerce president Scott Durchslag, and senior VP U.S. retail Shawn Score.

Atlanta -- Aaron's announced Thursday that David L. Buck and Tristan J. Montanero have each been promoted to SVP operations, effective Jan. 1.

Buck was previously VP southwestern operations, and Montanero was VP central operations.

Washington, D.C. -- Executives at Amazon, Kohl’s, Crocs and Lululemon have been named recipients of the National Retail Federation’s annual awards. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos received the Gold Medal Award, recognized for serving the industry with distinction and achieving a national reputation for excellence.

Fremont, Calif. -- Men's Wearhouse said Wednesday that menswear designer Joseph Abboud has been named the company's chief creative director.

According to the company, Abboud will leverage his industry and design knowledge to work directly with Men's Wearhouse's merchants and sourcing team to enhance and improve the company's offerings.

New York -- Shopper analytics firm Experian FootFall said Thursday that the final Saturday before Christmas – Super Saturday – could eclipse Black Friday as the top performer this holiday season.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Thursday it has promoted Karen Roberts to EVP and general counsel, effective Feb. 1. Roberts’ predecessor Jeff Gearhart will focus his efforts on global compliance as Wal-Mart continues to deal with allegations of bribery in Mexico.

Yonkers, N.Y. -- Poll results released Thursday by Consumer Reports found that, with only five shopping days left until Christmas, 68% of shoppers – or about 132 million Americans – have yet to finish their gift shopping.

Seventeen million are estimated to hit stores on Christmas Eve.