Management

RadioShack named former U.S. Treasury Department adviser Harry Wilson as its chief revitalization officer, enlisting a turnaround expert who helped restructure General Motors and Chrysler. Wilson, founder of the advisory firm Maeva Group, will report to RadioShack's board and CEO Joe Magnacca, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement. The struggling electronics chain, which received a rescue financing package earlier this month, cited Wilson's experience reviving U.S. automakers in the wake of the recession. He was a senior member of the Auto Task Force, which led the Treasury Department's role in revamping GM and Chrysler.

Retail giant Wal-Mart caused a stir on Monday, after a listing for plus-size Halloween outfits appeared on its website under the heading "Fat Girl Costumes." The retail chain quickly backtracked, issuing an apology before changing the heading to "Women's Plus-Size Halloween Costumes." "This never should have been on our site. It's unacceptable, and we apologize," a spokesperson for the company said. "We are working to remove it as soon as possible and ensure this never happens again."

I believe that merchants are very important to a retail organization. They shape the future of their company with innovative and creative ideas. They're always on the lookout for new fashion trends. They visit stores and designers to learn and see the future. Fashion leadership starts at the top and then permeates the whole store organization. Whether it's a color, new look or new allocation of space, it's the merchant who will decide. Some of retail's top merchants I admire include Mike Gould, Roger Farah, Mickey Drexler and Karen Katz.

In what can't be qualified as surprising news, Sears Holdings Corp announced this morning that it will close more than 100 stores across the country and lay off upwards of 5,500 employees. At least 46 Kmart stores, 30 Sears department stores and 31 Sears Auto Centers are scheduled to close before the end of January. This is just the latest in a series of moves that Sears has made as it fights to keep its head above water.

Sears, the struggling one-time U.S. retail stalwart, said Monday that it would lease seven locations to European fashion retailer Primark. Primark, which is owned by Associated British Foods, will lease about 520,000 gross square feet of retail space over the next 12 months to 18 months in mall-based Sears locations in the Northeastern U.S., Sears said. Financial terms of the deals weren't disclosed. The Primark agreements mark the latest moves in Sears’ efforts to survive. 

As proponents of higher pay for Wal-Mart workers prepare for a day of protests against the retailer, its CEO is making the vague pledge that the company will eventually no longer have employees making only the national minimum wage. CEO Douglas McMillon was quick to point out to reporters on Wednesday that only about 6,000 of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million U.S. employees earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 (we don't know if that number included those employees in cities and states with minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum). 

lululemon apologized to sports fans in Buffalo, N.Y., after it drew ire for the phrase "Wide Right / No Goal" spelled out in tile on the floor of a local store, a reference to painful losses that the city suffered in football and hockey. "We want the Buffalo community to know that we have heard them and we are sorry," Paul Zaengle, senior vice president of U.S. retail, said in an emailed statement. "We get that this didn't land well, and we want to make it right. We have covered up the mosaic and are having it removed." 

An increase in customer demand is spurring Amazon.com to create 80,000 seasonal positions at its network of distribution centers across the U.S. That's a 14 percent increase over the number of temporary workers it hired last year at this time. "We're excited to be creating 80,000 seasonal jobs, thousands of which will lead to regular, full-time roles with benefits starting on day one," Mike Roth, Amazon's vice president of North America operations, said in a statement released Thursday. The giant online retailer said it plans to convert more than 10,000 of its U.S. seasonal jobs into full-time positions. 

The National Retail Federation (NRF) today released a study authored by a University of Georgia economist who found that retail jobs pay wages that are highly competitive with those in other industries. The NRF's report, Wages in the Retail Industry: Getting the Facts Straight, is part of its Retail Jobs Week, an initiative from the trade association to educate Washington lawmakers about the value retail jobs deliver for millions of workers and the economy as a whole.

Signet Jewelers Ltd, the largest jewelry retailer in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, this morning announced that President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Light will become its new chief executive starting Nov. 1. He will replace current CEO Michael Barnes, who is resigning from his job and from Signet's board of directors to "pursue opportunities closer to his home in Dallas," effective Oct. 31. Barnes was based in Akron, Ohio, home of Signet's U.S. retailers Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, and regional brands such as J.B. Robinson.