Management

eBay promised some compensation for the 10,000 sellers it said had been affected by a software glitch that led to their listings disappearing from search. eBay Spokesperson Johnna Hoff said the company was in the process of notifying impacted sellers via email of their status, as well as the particular credits that would apply. "Sellers with questions should contact customer support," she said.

Apparel group Limited Brands has been temporary renamed L Brands while the company decides on a permanent change of name. The owner of the Victoria's Secret lingerie retail business said the name change, announced last Friday, was part of a planned transition process under a requirement associated with its 2007 sale of Limited Stores. It expects to announce a new permanent name for the company in the months ahead, it added.

However you're counting the numbers, they hurt. J.C. Penney revealed in a regulatory filing yesterday that it finished its fiscal year ended Feb. 2 with 116,000 employees - a whopping 43,000 less than a year earlier. That's a slashing of 27 percent - even steeper than the company's disastrous revenue decline of 24.8 percent for the same period. It's also more than twice the figure of 19,000 job cuts that Chief Executive Ron Johnson testified to under oath earlier this month

eBay acknowledged a glitch on Wednesday that caused it to remove sellers' listings in error. The exact number of sellers impacted is uncertain, but the problem is widespread, and many of the sellers who were impacted said most of their listings were pulled from the site. Those sellers who were able to reach a customer service rep who knew of the problem were told it could take eBay 24 hours to fix the problem, but there's no reason to believe that's an official estimate.

In what's probably a sign of the real vs. fake end times, Neiman Marcus agreed on Tuesday to stop labeling real fur as "faux fur." According to a very real FTC complaint, between October 2009 and November 2012, the luxury chain's NeimanMarcus.com and BergdorfGoodman.com websites sold a Burberry jacket, a Stuart Weitzman shoe and an Alice + Olivia Kyah coat described on the sites as trimmed with faux fur, when actually the trimming was real fur.

Janet Hayes, currently the president of Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen, will become president of the Williams-Sonoma brand, effective March 20. She replaces Richard Harvey, who will be leaving the company on May 3 after 30 years of service. Hayes has served as president of Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen since 2010. 

In the late 1980s I would go into Dayton's Department Store in Minneapolis and marvel at how much acreage was devoted to the Liz Claiborne apparel. Macy's, May Company, The Broadway and many others also carried substantial offering of the brand. Liz Claiborne was everywhere, and as an analyst I would lament that all stores looked alike. That isn't the case anymore. The department stores that are left have developed character and images of their own through exclusive designers and private labels. In the process, Liz Claiborne slowly lost its iconic status.

Allen Questrom, the former CEO of J.C. Penney, shredded current CEO Ron Johnson for what he has done to the struggling department store chain in an interview with CNBC's Scott Wapner today. Questrom is a legend in the retail world. His career included jobs running JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, and Barneys. He totally disapproves of what's happening at J.C. Penney and he let the world know it in colorful language

A New York State Supreme Court Judge has ordered Macy's, J.C. Penney and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia into mediation in a bid to resolve a dispute over a partnership with the Martha Stewart brand. The development Thursday comes as the companies were wrapping up the third week of a trial over whether Macy's has the exclusive rights to sell some Martha Stewart-branded merchandise, including bedding, cookware and bath items.

Saks Fifth Avenue is no longer elitist and wants to generate more business by embracing new customers. The SAKSFIRST loyalty card that previously had a $1,000 threshold for customer participation in the program is now available to anybody and the benefits start with the first purchase. That's great news. The expanding program will reward customers with gift cards that start at a 2 percent level and rise to 6 percent for more substantial purchases. All participants in the loyalty program will receive additional benefits such as free shipping and invitations to special fashion shows.