Management

GameStop plans to close 200 stores by next year, Bloomberg reported. The closings were announced on a conference call, shortly after the chain reported better-than expected third-quarter results, excluding an impairment charge. For the third quarter ended Oct. 27, GameStop posted a net loss of $624.3 million after impairment and goodwill costs of $678.8 million, mostly tied to international operations. That's compared with net income of $53.9 million a year earlier.

If you check mainstream news on a regular basis, you surely heard about the presidential election and the nasty hurricane that slammed the East Coast last week. But you probably haven't heard as much about the series of strikes that have been brewing for over a month now against the single largest private employer, not only in America but the world: Wal-Mart.

A few days ago, when Sandy was just a silly-sounding Frankenstorm, the marketing appeal was undeniable. Graphic Image staged a "Franken Storm Franken Sale" that invited customers to take 15 percent off the leather diaries, notebooks and everything else on its website, and sports retailer Owner Operator had its own FRANKENSTORM discount. Urban Outfitters blasted out its offer in an email that declared: "This Storm Blows But Free Shipping on All Orders Doesn't." Even Singer22, a trendy Long Island clothing retailer in the path of the storm, hawked its hurricane sale with the slogan: "Every cloud has a silver lining."

About 40 people marched on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue on Wednesday, stopping in front of retailers such as Uniqlo and Abercrombie & Fitch. A union executive said salespeople are treated like day laborers rather than employees. For retail workers, "underemployment" is a bigger problem than unemployment, according to a worker advocacy group that is organizing retail workersto protest "on call" scheduling and policies that allow them to work only one or two shifts per week.

Nordstrom has joined such other Washington-based retailers as Starbucks Coffee Company and Amazon.com in coming out in support of  approving Referendum 74, a Washington state ballot measure that seeks to affirm same-sex marriage with voters. (In July, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, pledged $2.5 million in support of the measure.) Company president Blake Nordstrom sent out a companywide memo that detailed the retailer's "philosophical approach" to business, which includes a workplace where "every employee is welcomed and respected."

True Religion Apparel, the struggling maker of upscale denim, is apparently hoping a sale can repair its fraying financials. The company said on Wednesday that it was exploring strategic options, the euphemism often used when a company is considering selling itself. True Religion has hired Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Greenberg Traurig as advisers, and its board has set up a special committee to consider possible transactions. The company has received approaches from potential buyers.

The first retail worker strike against Wal-Mart has spread from Los Angeles, where it began last week, to stores in a dozen cities, a union official said Tuesday. Wal-Mart workers walked off the job in Dallas, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay area, Miami, the Washington, D.C. area, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Calif., Chicago and Orlando, Fla. said Dan Schlademan, director of the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Making Change At Wal-Mart campaign. Workers also went on strike in parts of Kentucky, Missouri and Minnesota, he said.

Macy's has announced that it plans to hire approximately 80,000 seasonal associates for its Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores for the 2012 holiday season. That would be an increase of about 2.5 percent over the retailer's 2011 holiday hires. The company's seasonal associates serve customers on the selling floor, work in store operations positions, interact with customers via the telephone in call centers, and staff the distribution and fulfillment centers.

Some good news was reported last week: Retailers plan to hire more seasonal staffers than last year in expectation of an increase in holiday sales, according to merchants and two reports out this month from consulting groups.

Toys"R"Us said it would hire 45,000 seasonal employees for the upcoming holiday shopping period, becoming the latest retailer to increase its hiring in anticipation of a modest bump in consumer spending. The toy store hired about 40,000 seasonal workers last year, roughly 15 percent of whom were kept on after the period ended.