Management

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.

Wet Seal Inc. said it plans to reduce head count at its corporate offices by 24 percent and field management-level positions by 20 percent as the teen apparel retailer continues to get hurt by weak sales. The company plans to eliminate a total of 78 jobs, which include some open positions. The cuts include 66 corporate office positions and 12 field management-level posts. 

Ed Stack, the CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods, ate humble pie this week. "I'm sorry, we clearly messed up and I can personally guarantee that next year's basketball catalog will prominently feature female athletes, as it should have this year." Mr. Stack was apologizing to 12-year-old McKenna Peterson, a basketball player who couldn't find any women — except on page 6 sitting in the stands — in the latest Dick's basketball catalog. McKenna identifies herself as a loyal customer, having purchased her last two pairs of basketball shoes from Dick's.

Texas-based discounter Alco Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy, joining the list of smaller U.S. retailers seeking protection from creditors. The 113-year-old company, blaming a "lingering economic slowdown" for its predicament, said it hoped to sell better-performing stores while liquidating the rest. Alco, based in Coppell, Texas, caters mostly to fixed and low-income customers in rural areas in 23 states. The company has 198 stores and 3,000 employees.

Not long ago, you always knew where to find a Walgreens — at the corner of happy and homely. Walgreens’ banal, cookie-cutter buildings made one part of America indistinguishable from another. Inside were narrow, harshly-lit aisles piled high with merchandise. Squawking intercoms summoned you to the pharmacy. These days, the Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore giant is writing a more sophisticated design prescription: Its latest crop of stores has a crisp contemporary look that's airy, roomy, even occasionally playful. The fresh approach extends to exteriors, which are no longer drab and interchangeable.

Luxottica Group lost its second chief executive officer in little more than a month following a dispute about appointments to the board, according to a person familiar with the matter. Enrico Cavatorta will leave the world's largest eyewear company after a debate over the

J.C. Penney ended a year long search for a chief executive, naming retail industry veteran Marvin Ellison to replace interim CEO Myron Ullman in August 2015.The department store operator's shares rose 3.2 percent to $7.35 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cabela's is offering a slew of themed merchandise — including pink shotgun shells. A portion of sales of the Federal Ammunition brand shells goes to breast cancer research. "The box is pink and the actual hull of the shell is pink as well," said Derrek Shively, retail marketing manager at Cabela's Columbus, Ohio location. "It's pretty cool," Shively said. "You can still enjoy the outdoor lifestyle and support the cause. I never woulda' thunk."

Gap said late Wednesday that Glenn Murphy will resign as its chairman and chief executive on Feb. 1, and the retailer will promote its digital leader Art Peck to CEO. The San Francisco company, which operates Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, said Wednesday that Murphy's resignation coincides with the end of its current fiscal year. He has been Gap's chairman and CEO since July 2007 and oversaw a turnaround that has lost steam in recent months.

Gone are the ladies who lunch and the women who lampooned them — Elaine Stritch, Joan Rivers — but the girls who get coffee soldier on. There's already a small infantry forming at Ralph's, a white-tiled cafe on the second floor of Ralph Lauren's new Polo flagship. The communal table in the next room might have been wrested from Le Pain Quotidien, if not Central Perk, where the fictional Rachel Green on "Friends" worked two decades ago before being hired by Ralph Lauren, playing himself on the show in the spirit of good sport that oxygenates his entire enormous enterprise.