Management

Edward M. Krell is stepping down as chief executive of Destination Maternity "to pursue other opportunities," the Philadelphia-based apparel retailer announced on Monday. Krell, 52, will be succeeded by Anthony M. Romano, a member of Destination Maternity's board. The change comes after the company's July 25 announcement that it had dropped its bid to acquire Mothercare, a British retailer of maternity and children's products. Mothercare's board rebuffed two offers.

Import volume at major U.S. container ports is expected to hit an all-time record in August as retailers concerned about the lack of a West Coast longshoremen's contract rush to bring holiday season merchandise into the country, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. "The negotiations appear to be going well but each week that goes by makes the situation more critical as the holiday season approaches," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

Office Depot has amped up its military hiring efforts by teaming with Military.com to provide job opportunities to veterans. By partnering with the nation's largest military and veteran membership organization, Office Depot has made thousands of employment opportunities — including openings in supply chain, sales, e-commerce, IT, human resources, marketing and retail — available to military veterans. The jobs are now posted to Military.com's Veteran Employment Center, where active and retired service personnel can view and apply.

OK, as a journalist, I’m not supposed to show any allegiance to a brand. I'm supposed to be unbiased and straightforward with just the facts, ma’am. And most of the time I am. But I’ve been reading a lot about the cool stuff online luxury retailer Net-A-Porter has been doing lately, and I can’t contain my excitement. Here are three reasons I think it's a great company:

Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder Chip Wilson will sell half his stake in the yogawear company to private equity firm Advent International for about $845 million. Wilson and Advent agreed to name David Mussafer and Steve Collins to the board of directors, effective as of the closing of the transaction, expanding the board to 12 members from 10, Lululemon said

After years of stability in the executive suite, GNC Holdings has sent longtime leader Joe Fortunato packing and installed an outsider — senior retail industry executive Michael Archbold, 53 — as CEO, effective immediately. Lead independent director Michael Hines has been elected nonexecutive chairman of the GNC board. Archbold comes to GNC from women's apparel retailer Talbots, but before that he held executive positions, including president and COO for GNC competitor Vitamin Shoppe. Tuesday's surprise announcement comes only weeks after GNC's longtime CFO Michael Nuzzo left the company to become chief administrative officer and executive vice president at 4Moms. 

Target announced today that its second quarter earnings will include a $148 million charge related to losses stemming from a data breach that occurred during last year's holiday shopping season. It also warned that its profit for that period would be softer than expected. During the fourth quarter of 2013, Target experienced a data breach in which an intruder gained unauthorized access to its network and stole payment card and other guest information. More than 110 million consumers were affected.

Sascha Bopp, Crate & Barrel's CEO, has resigned. Sources confirmed that the announcement was made to employees at the end of the business day yesterday. Bopp, 44, has been CEO since spring of 2012. He joined the company in 2009. He was only the third CEO in the Northbrook, Ill.-based retailer's 52-year history. Gordon Segal, who co-founded the company with his wife, Carole, ran it until 2008. He handed the reins to Barbara Turf, a longtime Crate & Barrel executive who joined the original Crate & Barrel store in Old Town as a part-time sales clerk in 1967.

When Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, two of the largest dollar stores in North America, agreed to merge, it was the ultimate collision of Wall Street and Main Street. While hedge funds stand to make millions of dollars from the deal, the millions of Americans on limited budgets who rely on such stores will unfortunately be left behind. The strategy behind the merger is that by combining the two companies’ purchasing power, the resulting firm can extract better deals from its suppliers. The model here, as it is for most low-price stores, is Wal-Mart.

Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley declared Friday the company will sell or exit 90 to 100 mostly minor brands in a bold attempt to refocus the business behind its 70 to 80 remaining best-selling brand names. In an interview with The Enquirer, Lafley stressed sales won't be the only criterion for shedding brands. Though he wouldn't name brands, Lafley said P&G will unload even large brands if they don't fit into the company's core beauty, fabric care and other businesses.