Management

J.C. Penney announced this morning that it has eliminated roughly 360 jobs at its headquarters in Plano, Texas, and at stores throughout the country. USA Today reports the news was announced after the company's most recent earnings call, where it missed analysts expectations. J.C. Penney said the job cuts were part of its efforts to get…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Caitlin Sullivan reviews the top retail news of the week, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, and other retailers changing their policies on gun sales; Sam's Club's announcing a partnership with Instacart that will enable the Walmart business to start delivering groceries to its customers; and a…

Best Buy is planning to close all of its roughly 250 smaller-format mobile phone stores by the end of May, according to a report in the a StarTribune. The stores, most of which are in shopping malls and much smaller than Best Buy’s big-box locations — have become less profitable for the company. Best Buy…

In a keynote presentation at eTail West in Palm Springs, Calif., earlier this week, Noam Paransky, senior vice president, digital, Gap Inc., detailed how the retailer has transformed its organization to better position itself to serve today’s omnichannel consumers. Gap was one of the first mall-based retailers to have an e-commerce site, launching in 1997.…

The Nordstrom family is reviving an effort to take their namesake retail company private, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters on Friday. The family had suspended its effort in October, but said it intended to resume exploration of a take-private offer after the holidays. Reuters reported that the family met with investment bankers last…

Lowe’s last week launched its Track to the Trades program, a workforce development initiative designed to provide support for employees who want to pursue job training for skilled trades. Lowe's has partnered with adult education program Guild Education on the Track to the Trades program. The initiative comes at a time when the skilled trade…

According to a report from the New York Post, Marc Lore could be eying his exit from Walmart. Lore, the CEO of Walmart.com (and founder of Jet.com, which Walmart acquired for $3.3 billion in 2016), was noticeably absent from the retailer's discussion of its digital slowdown on a Tuesday conference call. Walmart reported this week…

Gap said today that Jeff Kirwan, president and chief executive of its eponymous brand, will leave the apparel retailer, pushing its shares down 5 percent. The news comes just over a week before Gap is scheduled to announce fourth-quarter results. The company, in November, raised its 2017 earnings and same-store sales forecasts, likely reflecting higher sales…

WeWork Companies is launching a partnership with J.Crew to host a panel discussion series at select WeWork locations in New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia. As part of the partnership, these venues will also sell merchandise from J.Crew’s spring collection at pop-up shops that offer discounts to WeWork members. The events aim to bring together professionals…

Walmart announced this week that it is eliminating two department manager positions in some of its 4,700 U.S. stores, including managers who oversee cellphone departments and online grocery pickup areas, in a new restructuring plan, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The stores facing cuts either have lower sales in those departments or are increasingly…