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A new way to pay for your purchases and get discounts at American Eagle Outfitters has just launced. Say hello to the Google Wallet app, a tap-and-go payment method that can be linked to your Citibank credit card or an American Eagle gift card (or you can add money to your Google Wallet account from any credit card online).

Portland, Ore. -- Ikea officially plugged-in two Blink Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at its Portland, Ore., store as part of its partnership with ECOtality, a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies. The initiative is the first such project for Ikea in the United States. Similar installations aa planned at eight other Ikea stores in the Western United States. To charge an EV at Ikea Portland, drivers pull into a designated parking spot, swipe their Blink InCard (RFID card), plug the charger into the EV, and then shop while the vehicle is charging.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark has released the Caremark.com Droid application, which provides Android users with access to the Drug Information Database to learn about various prescription drugs and allows CVS Caremark plan members to log in and manage their prescriptions online. The free app can be used with Android 2.1 OS and above phones. Caremark.com has had an iPhone application available since July 2010, and this new Android application further broadens CVS Caremark members' mobile access to their prescription information. "At CVS Caremark we continue to find ways to engage and communicate with our members using new technologies

Columbia Sportswear said it's expanded its e-commerce operations by launching Columbia and Sorel branded sites in Canada and eight European countries. The new e-commerce sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands — combined with existing sites in the United States, Korea and Japan — give the outdoor apparel and footwear brand 24 localized e-commerce operations in 12 countries.

A new study commissioned by VeriSign finds that availability of e-commerce sites could be at risk — even for the largest e-tailers — due to domain name system performance issues. Considering that the busy holiday shopping season is just around the corner, any unavailability during this critical time can be devastating for businesses.

A group of Wal-Mart employees seeking better wages and working conditions marched on the retailer's headquarters Oct. 12 but said they were turned away without meeting with company officials. Around 100 members of Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) said they assembled so as to "offer solutions for improving the company's ailing U.S. store operations," on the same day of the company's annual investor conference.

Retail hiring levels have reached the highest mark in nearly three years. The Kronos Retail Labor Index, which characterizes the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, rose to 3.9 percent in September, reflecting a strong gain in hires and a modest decline in applications, all on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores said it will increase its workforce by more than 15 percent for the holiday season. Tom Williams, senior vice president of human resources for Jo-Ann, announced the company has begun the seasonal recruiting process and will hire more than 3,000 additional employees before the holidays. The company attributes the seasonal hiring to anticipation of increased traffic in stores through the holiday season.

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Dallas -- Zale Corp. said Wednesday that it has named Thomas A. Haubenstricker as senior VP and CFO, effective Oct. 17. Haubenstricker joins Zale from Turnberry Advisors where he served as a managing director.