Management

Staples switched into turnaround mode yesterday, announcing plans to shave $250 million in costs by ramping up store closings, investing more in its online and mobile offerings, restructuring its international operations, and making leadership changes. The Framingham, Mass.-based office products company said it will close 15 U.S. stores by the end of the year and cut its overall North American retail square footage by 15 percent over the next three years.

J.C. Penney dropped the most in four months after Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson's showcase of the stores’ new layout failed to inspire confidence in his remake of the 110-year-old retailer. The shares fell 11 percent to $25.83 at the close in New York, the biggest one-day drop since May 16. The Plano, Texas-based company was the biggest decliner on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index yesterday and has lost 27 percent this year.

Hollister has fired three male models it flew in for the opening of its first store in South Korea after the models mocked Asians in photos and on their social media accounts, according to various media reports. During the models' gig from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, they tweeted photos of themselves making squinty eyes, mocking their Asian fans' accents and engaging in other offensive behavior such as flipping off the camera. A spokesman for Hollister parent company Abercrombie & Fitch said that the models were fired after the company investigated the incident

Listen in as Brad Wolansky, the newly named president of direct and chief marketing officer at Yankee Candle, discusses his new role, his company's integrated cross-channel approach to marketing and holiday marketing plans at Shop.org's Annual Summit in Denver.

The former Target chief marketing officer and J.C. Penney president will join Gap on Sept. 17 in an advisory role, Ad Age has learned. According to an executive close to the company, Gap CEO Glenn Murphy recently announced the news to a select group of executives. Mr. Francis will be the company's first marketing creative adviser and is expected to spend two weeks a month in the Gap offices. A Gap spokeswoman declined to comment. Mr. Francis could not immediately be reached for comment.

The feminist blog Jezebel was quick to notice that some ad copy selling a "temptress" dress in the J. Peterman online catalog basically described a rape fantasy scenario. (For the uninitiated, Peterman is famous for the occasionally bizarre vignettes it spins to describe its clothing.) The temptress dress copy limned a meet-cute on a boardwalk, and said

Nearly three months after the company abruptly dismissed its former CEO, Tuesday Morning announced yesterday it has found a replacement with the appointment of closeout retail veteran Brady Churches to the post, effectively immediately. Churches has also been named to the company's board of directors.

Gander Mountain Co. is doubling the size of its shoe departments and boosting sales staff by 400, the latest evidence of retailers jumping into the footwear market. The New York Times reports on the shift by the St. Paul, Minn.-based company, which has traditionally sold outdoorsy equipment but is adding more than 20 brands of athletic shoes from brands like Nike, Saucony and Under Armour. It's also boosting staff training to sell the new products, which Gander Mountain hopes will help double footwear sales in the next two years.

After spending one year researching Apple's retail stores, I reached the conclusion that the secret sauce to Apple's astonishing success in retail lies in what customers don't see — the way employees are hired, trained, motivated and taught to communicate with customers. When it comes to hiring, the Apple Store doesn't care about how much you know as much as it wants to know how much you care. The ideal Apple Store candidate knows a little about computers and a lot about people.

Within retail, we know the influence and impact our industry has on everyday life and the economy. But sometimes it takes an eye-catching headline like "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" to make other people sit up and take notice. Among the politicians, humanitarians and media moguls, six of the world's most powerful women are CEOs right within our industry. To many people, retail may just seem like a starting point for their working life, but the Forbes’ list demonstrates that a career in our industry can lead to some of the most powerful positions in the world.