Management

As part oF their effort to win $10-an-hour minimum wage, Wal-Mart employees plan to disrupt operations at 1,500 of the company's stores today, hitting the retail giant in the pocketbook on the biggest shopping day of the year. 

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is about to reveal something that no one has seen before. Amazon's M.O. has always been to plug along at what it does best, keeping a low profile. Rarely Bezos will grant an interview, as when he went on "Oprah" to talk about the Kindle, or make headlines, as occurred this summer after he acquired The Washington Post. 

Struggling teen clothing retailer Aeropostale, under pressure from some investors to sell itself, adopted a poison pill that would be triggered if a stockholder buys 10 percent of the company. Shareholder Crescendo Partners urged Aéropostale last week to sell itself, joining a list of investors expressing frustration about the fading fortunes of the retailer, which has lost money for three quarters in a row. Aéropostale, which has warned of another quarterly loss when it reports next week, has been hit along with rivals by heavy discounting going into the holiday shopping season. 

German Amazon.com employees went on strike on Monday in a long-running pay dispute with the internet retailer. Employees of two Amazon distribution centers in Leipzig and Bad Hersfeld stopped work in the latest in a series of strikes coordinated by the Verdi union. Workers are demanding a collective wage agreement to meet pay standards in the German retail sector.

As Wal-Mart enters a fiercely competitive holiday season while still hampered by sluggish sales, the company's board announced on Monday that Michael T. Duke, its chief executive, would retire early next year and a longtime executive, C. Douglas McMillon, would replace him. McMillon, 47, president of Wal-Mart International, will take the helm on Feb. 1, just after the holiday season, the company said. He was also elected to the board effective immediately.

Glassdoor.com, a jobs and career community where people share information and opinions about the places they work, has just unveiled its 2013 retail industry report card, which sheds light into which retailers rate highest amongst employees. Glassdoor looked at employee feedback for more than 250 retailers with at least 50 approved company reviews from the past year. Here are the top 10:

A new Kmart commercial that depicts a group of men in boxer shorts shaking their bodies to a commonly sung Christmas carol has some viewers upset. The 55-second ad created an online maelstrom when it was aired on national TV. The commercial, dubbed "Show Your Joe," begins with a wide-angle shot of six men, who appear to be dressed in tuxedos, standing behind a curtain while ringing bells. However, a few seconds into the clip the curtain is whisked away, revealing the mens’ bottoms are clad in Joe Boxer underwear.

A Cleveland Wal-Mart store is holding a food drive … for its own employees. "Please donate food items so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner," reads a sign accompanied by several plastic bins. The Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported on the food drive, which has sparked outrage in the area. "That Wal-Mart would have the audacity to ask low-wage workers to donate food to other low-wage workers — to me, it's a moral outrage," Norma Mills, a customer at the store, told the Plain Dealer. A company spokesman defended the food drive, telling the Plain Dealer that it's evidence that employees care about each other. 

Many retailers are preparing for the busy holiday shopping days ahead by making sure their websites are working properly, their inventory is up-to-date and their promotions are segmented correctly. Another area they should prioritize is making sure their sales associates are knowledgeable about their products, at least according to the findings of the recently released Retail Buying Experience survey sponsored by eXperticity and conducted by ReRez Research.

HSN is turning its sights toward Hispanic consumers with the announcement of a new e-commerce partnership with Univision Communications that will begin on Thursday. The three-year partnership will take the form of a shopping portal on Univision.com called Boutique Univision that will feature a variety of products from HSN targeted at Hispanics. "This is the fastest-growing consumer group and they will be driving the U.S. economy over the next few decades," said Bill Brand, chief marketing and business development officer at HSN. "We're able to reach this Hispanic consumer through the most trusted brand in their community, and that's Univision."