Management

The North Face outdoor apparel brand confirmed that it purchases goose down feathers from California's Allied Feather & Down, which primarily sources its down feathers from foie gras producers in Hungary, who force-feed geese in a process deemed cruel by animal rights activists.

A first-of-its-kind study on "sweethearting," a form of employee theft when the employee gives away products or services for free or at a discount, claims traditional mitigation strategies used by loss prevention professionals often don't work and offers guidance to managers struggling to address the problem.

If you walk past the building that used to be a Borders in downtown Chicago you'll find an art exhibit in the window. That's one way of filling the space that was emptied after Borders closed down all 399 of its locations last year. The question of what would become of these huge big-box stores puzzled commercial real estate experts.

Christopher & Banks announced that Larry Barenbaum has resigned all of his positions with the company effective Feb. 17, 2012. In connection with Barenbaum's resignation as chief executive officer, the company's board of directors announced that Joel Waller, president, has been named chief executive officer.

Golfsmith announced that Sue E. Gove has been appointed president of the company, in addition to maintaining her role as chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

Amazon.com plans to build three commercial towers in Seattle, potentially increasing the city's downtown office space by 7 percent, based on the company's preliminary development plans and figures from CBRE Group.

In an effort to build customer engagement, capture wallet share and accelerate sales growth, retailers in 2012 will focus on a number of customer-centric functions, including IT and e-commerce investments, enhancing customer service initiatives, and building on their mobile platforms.

Leading U.K. supermarket chain Tesco has strongly defended its association with a government-led employment scheme following public criticism of one of its job advertisements. A permanent position of a night-shift worker at one of Tesco's stores was posted earlier this month with a salary listed as "the job seekers allowance and expenses."

Amid declining sales, rising commodity costs and a U.S. grand jury investigation into whether ex-employees in China paid bribes to officials in violation of U.S. anti-corruption laws, cosmetics giant Avon Products' CEO Andrea Jung said the company doesn't expect its margins to improve this year.

Courtesy of Harvard Business Review, here's a video featuring Robert Chavez, CEO of Hermès US, talking about why employee engagement and an online/digital presence are key to driving his business and brand objectives.