Management

Barbara Bradley Baekgaard co-founded a handbag and apparel company out of her basement — she named it after her mom — and 33 years later it generates a half-billion dollars in sales.

Donald Trump isn’t letting up on his controversial campaign style — or his snipes at Macy’s Inc., for that matter. On Sunday, the billionaire businessman and GOP presidential contender, was asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” about the disparity in pay between corporate chief executive officers and the average worker. “It’s very hard if you have a…

Furniture and home appliance retailer Conn's Inc. on Wednesday said it would securitize $1.4 billion of consumer debt and announced a new chief executive. The chain also completed a strategic review triggered by struggles last year with its credit-financing business. The Woodland, Texas, company announced a slightly worse-than-expected profit for its latest quarter, though revenue met Wall…

H&M, Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer, is rolling out a more generous compensation program for its Asian suppliers to improve factory conditions and combat unrest in the countries that produce the majority of its apparel. The Swedish retailer, which has 3,649 stores across 59 markets, is introducing a “fair wage method” to 68 factories in China, Cambodia…

Wal-Mart said it would reopen in late October to early November five U.S. stores whose closure had prompted a union to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the retailer was retaliating against workers for organizing. Wal-Mart will start hiring for the stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and California, and will encourage previous…

Six months after the ax fell on hundreds of workers at Target Corp. headquarters, the company’s technology operations finally felt the effect of its downsizing, with 235 people in the Twin Cities told they were out of a job Tuesday. The retailer’s information technology units were spared in earlier rounds of layoffs as the senior executives…

Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet said she plans to explore “new ideas and opportunities” after resigning from the online fashion retailer she founded 15 years ago. “My entrepreneurial drive is as strong today as it always has been, and my passion for innovation will continue to be my greatest guide in business,” Massenet said. Massenet’s departure comes as…

Wal-Mart, in the midst of spending $1 billion to raise employees’ wages and give them extra training, has been cutting the number of hours some of them work in a bid to keep costs in check. Regional executives told store managers at the retailer’s annual holiday planning meeting last month to rein in expenses by cutting…

An e-commerce lifer — granted, that’s less than 20 years — Stormy Simon can’t imagine doing anything else for a career. As president of Overstock.com, the Salt Lake City-based online retailer of home goods, furniture, women’s and men’s apparel, jewelry, electronics and a host of other products, Simon relishes the opportunity to come to work each day in such a dynamic, fast-paced industry. From temp worker to leading a company of 1,500 employees, it’s been quite a 14-year journey for Simon at Overstock.

Facing increasing pressure to curb erratic scheduling practices, Gap announced that it would stop requiring employees to make themselves available for last-minute shifts. The move makes Gap the latest retailer to move away from “on-call scheduling,” which regulators, workers’ rights groups and some academics say is detrimental to employees and their families.