Management

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer and the biggest private employer in the U.S. with 1.4 million workers here, said Tuesday that it's rolling out a three-part plan to help jump-start the sluggish U.S. economy. The plan includes hiring more than 100,000 veterans in the next five years, spending $50 billion to buy more American-made merchandise in the next 10 years and helping its part-time workers move into full-time positions.

Jerry McDougal, retail VP for Apple Inc., will be leaving the company, according to a Wednesday report by Bloomberg. He will be replaced by Jim Bean, a VP in Apple’s finance division. Company spokesman Steve Dowling told Bloomberg that...

RadioShack will end its partnership with Target, effective April 8. Through the partnership, RadioShack helped operate Target Mobile in 1,500 Target stores, with access to manage the retailer's post-paid mobility business. RadioShack, however, didn't manage the prepaid mobility business or the wider range of accessories offered in Target stores. Since October 2012, the retailer had been renegotiating the terms of the relationship with Target to establish an agreement that would be profitable to both companies.

A New Jersey woman took the two large Wal-Mart gift cards that her husband had received as a holiday bonus and bought an iPad with them. Only the iPad that she she brought home from the store wasn't the same one described on the box. The memory capacity and serial numbers didn't match. She also couldn't get the tablet to charge, or even to plug in to the cable. The item in her box, you see, was a plastic fake display-model iPad.

Apple has been pretty hush hush about its search for a new senior vice president of retail following the unexpected departure of retail boss John Browett. As John Paczkowski of AllThingsD reports, Apple can't afford to make another hiring mistake. So for the last several weeks, Paczkowski has been poking around to find ideal candidates. 

Junior fashion retailer Mandee has filed for bankruptcy protection under chapter 11. Superstorm Sandy proved to be the last straw on the back of the already distressed retailer. In U.S. court documents, the owners said that store and warehouse damage rendered by the hurricane was too severe to endure, and crippled the retailer just prior to the start of the holiday season. This proved to be too much, as the retailer had narrowly avoided going bankrupt the previous year.

Kevin Peters, president of North American operations for Office Depot, has left the company for a CEO position at an industrial distribution company, the retailer announced Friday. The office supplies retail giant announced that the separation was effective immediately and Neil Austrian, chairman and CEO, will oversee the company's North American business.

Quiksilver, Inc. today announced that its board of directors has appointed Andy Mooney as president and chief executive officer, succeeding Quiksilver's Co-Founder Bob McKnight, who has been named executive chairman. Mooney will also join the company's board of directors. All of these changes will become effective Jan. 11, 2013.

Women's apparel retailer Bebe Stores Inc. named retail industry veteran Steve Birkhold as its new chief executive as it looks to turn around its business amid declines in same-store sales. The company also reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales, hit by a 15 percent drop in same-store traffic. Birkhold, who replaces founder Manny Mashouf, joins Bebe from French fashion brand Lacoste, where he was heading its North American business.

J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler has responded to a New York Times column that called out a bad experience with the retailer and declared all online shopping "hell." Author Delia Ephron related a personal experience with J.Crew in the column, saying that the items she ordered weren't wrapped and they were shipped to the wrong address. Then she had to go through a time-consuming customer service process. Drexler responded with a letter to the editor, which was then published by The New York Times.