Management

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.

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.

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.

Lowe's is offering buyouts to corporate staff as the retailer slows store openings, cuts costs and focuses on the digital aspects of its business. The buyout offer, known as a "voluntary separation program," applies to corporate staff members at the company's offices in Mooresville and Wilkesboro, N.C.

Turnaround CEO Neil Fiske, who took over Bellevue-based Eddie Bauer in 2007 and led it through a bankruptcy court auction in 2009, will soon leave the top post, according to a company statement. No reason was given for his departure.

Liz Claiborne Inc. announced the appointment of David Bassuk as co-president and chief operating officer of Juicy Couture, effective Feb. 27. In this role, Bassuk will oversee finance, operations, planning and allocation, international, e-commerce, wholesale sales, and operations and facilities while partnering with co-president and chief creative officer LeAnn Nealz on the management and overall leadership of the Juicy Couture brand. Both Bassuk and Nealz will report to William L. McComb, CEO of Liz Claiborne Inc.