Management

During an awards ceremony yesterday at its annual Big Show in New York City, the National Retail Federation (NRF) feted Mike Ullman, current executive chairman and former CEO of J.C. Penney, with its Gold Medal Award for his 30-plus year career and contributions to the retail industry. Ullman served as CEO of the Plano-Texas based…

Tiffany & Co. said Tuesday that sales during the holiday period softened, prompting the luxury jeweler to reduce staff and cut its outlook for the year. The New York company said "challenging and uncertain global economic conditions" have resulted in restrained consumer spending, and a stronger U.S. dollar continues to dent foreign tourist spending. For the…

Joe McFarland has been hired to be executive vice president over all of J.C. Penney’s 1,000 stores, the Plano, Texas-based retailer said Monday. McFarland’s appointment is effective immediately, the company said, and he succeeds Tony Bartlett, who had been with Penney since 2006, the last three years over stores. The addition of McFarland means Penney CEO Marvin…

The board of American Apparel Inc. has rejected a $300 million takeover bid from investors who support the return of ousted Chief Executive Dov Charney, according to a person familiar with the matter. The rejection of an offer from Hagan Capital Group and Silver Creek Capital Partners is yet another dramatic turn for the Los Angeles…

Home improvement retailer Lowe's said Thursday that it plans to hire 46,000 seasonal employees for the spring and summer, its busiest time of the year. That's about 15 percent more seasonal workers than it hired in 2015. Lowe's Companies Inc., based in Mooresville, N.C., said it's hiring cashiers, stockers, lawn and garden clerks, and people…

Zappos, the online shoe retailer experimenting with the radical self-management system Holacracy, is continuing to hemorrhage employees. In a post on the company’s website, Arun Rajan, the chief operating officer, said 18 percent of the company, or some 260 people, had left the company since March. The exodus began after the chief executive, Tony Hsieh, announced that…

Clothing retailer American Apparel has been having a rough go of things for the past couple of years: Young people falling out of love with its hipster-goes-to-aerobics look and sales tanking; founder and (former) CEO Dov Charney getting fired for alleged misconduct; a bankruptcy filing last year as sales continued to fall; then Charney trying…

Teen retailer Aeropostale says it's cutting costs and jobs amid a years-long sales slump. The New York company said Tuesday it expects to cut expenses by $35 million to $40 million a year starting in fiscal 2016, and will slash its corporate staff by 13 percent, or 100 jobs, by the end of January. CEO Julian Geiger…

Joyce Leslie, a 69-year-old women’s clothing retailer with 47 stores in the New York metropolitan area, has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. The company lacks a “sophisticated e-commerce platform” to compete in today’s market, it said in court papers.

Department stores have been under siege for decades, but lately their fortunes have hit a new low that could spark a wave of deal making that could sweep up companies such as Kohl’s Corp. Kohl’s, a national department-store chain with roughly 1,200 stores, is debating whether to pursue more drastic action, such as taking itself private…