Management

eBay is considering a plan to eliminate thousands of jobs early next year as it prepares to separate its PayPal payments unit, according to people familiar with the company's thinking. The cuts are expected to primarily affect workers in eBay's core marketplace division. One source said eBay has discussed trimming at least 3,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its total workforce. The planned layoffs appear to be part of eBay's preparations to be a stand-alone company, and a potentially attractive takeover target. The marketplace division, which includes eBay.com and StubHub, is more profitable than PayPal.

Walgreens CEO Gregory Wasson announced Wednesday that he will step down from his position before the new year, just as America's largest drug store chain prepares to complete a merger with the Switzerland-based Alliance Boots. The company said in a statement that Stefano Pessina, executive chairman of Alliance Boots, will serve as acting CEO, pending a board search for a successor. Walgreens Chairman James Skinner will become Walgreens Boots Alliance's executive chairman.

Black Friday is a tough day for all involved, from the folks who wait outside for bargains to the employees inside who face frantic consumers rushing after those great deals. But perhaps the day after Thanksgiving this year was a little easier for Target employees in Westminster, Maryland, thanks to one electronics department worker who got up on a checkout counter and delivered what had to be the most rousing pre-Black Friday speech ever. 

Abercrombie & Fitch's longtime CEO Michael Jeffries is retiring, effective immediately, as the once-hip teen clothing chain's sales decline. Jeffries is also retiring from the retailer's board of directors. He has served as CEO since February 1992, according to CapitalIQ. "I believe now is the right time for new leadership to take the company forward in the next phase of its development," Jeffries said in a statement.

Macy's holiday season has kicked off with its stores filled with the normal cold weather apparel for kids and knee-high women's boots. But the department store retailer has several firsts in the mix this year designed to boost sales — including new pickup and same-day delivery programs, along with an eye toward more unique vendor shops in 2015. 

Irvin J. Borowsky, the publisher and philanthropist who founded North American Publishing Co. (NAPCO), the parent company of Retail Online Integration, died Nov. 25 in Philadelphia, a few days after his 90th birthday.

The Home Depot will buy HD Supply's Hardware Solutions unit, formerly known as Crown Bolt, for an undisclosed amount. Atlanta-based Home Depot said the acquisition boosts it supply chain capabilities and hardware product offerings. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2014. HD Supply Hardware Solutions supplies fasteners and builders hardware to retailers in the United States. It was The Home Depot's 2013 Hardware Vendor of the Year.

Friday marks the official start of the holiday shopping season. Or rather, it used to — more and more stores are opening on Thanksgiving. That's why, at 6 p.m. Thursday, Albert Boscov, 85, will head to one of the company's 43 stores. "We don't like opening on Thanksgiving, because we screw up life for people," said Boscov, chairman of Boscov's Department Store, now celebrating its 100th anniversary. "We're open now because we have no choice," he said. "The business is so big, those few days that if you aren't open, they'll go somewhere else."

Small-town discount retailer Alco Stores will close after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas approved an order by the company's creditors to shutter its stores. The court order Thursday follows the company's announcement last month that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Alco, based in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, said at the time that it intended to stay in business while reorganizing.

Gap Inc. incoming Chief Executive Officer Art Peck is overhauling management at the ailing Banana Republic and Gap brands. Jeff Kirwan, 48, will replace Stephen Sunnucks as global president for the Gap chain in December, and Andi Owen, 49, will succeed Jack Calhoun on Jan. 5 as global president for Banana Republic, the retailer's upscale chain. The move marks Peck's first major decision since CEO Glenn Murphy said last month that he will step down in February.