Personnel

In episode 14 of Total Retail Talks, we feature a conversation with Jennifer Farrelly, director of human resources at Lorna Jane, a women's activewear brand. With the holiday shopping season quickly approaching, retailers’ stores and websites will begin to see an uptick in traffic. To help accommodate this increase in demand, many companies hire extra…

Once upon a time, Black Friday shopping actually took place on Friday. In recent years, retailers have pushed the envelope by offering deals as early as Nov. 2, allowing consumers to start shopping ahead of the official holiday season kickoff. Many have even kept their doors open on Thanksgiving Day to the dismay of retail…

On Black Friday this year, outdoor gear and apparel retailer REI is putting its money where its motto is. The store that touts its dedication to “inspiring, educating, and outfitting” its customers and community to explore nature is staying closed on one of the nation’s busiest shopping days and will pay its employees to spend the…

J.C. Penney laid off 300 of its 3,400 headquarters employees in Plano, Texas on Thursday. The 9 percent reduction is part of an ongoing effort to cut costs as Penney tries to become profitable again. CEO Marvin Ellison has been saying since he assumed the top job at Penney in August that he's reviewing the organization and…

At retail companies still using outdated scheduling processes, managers know the pain of perfecting employee schedules all too well. To devise an optimal workforce schedule, managers must accommodate shift preferences, employee availability and in-store demand. However, it’s near impossible to meet everyone’s needs and preferences when using outdated, manual methods. Though traditional scheduling practices (i.e.,…

GameStop has announced its brick-and-mortar locations will remain closed on Thanksgiving, the latest in a new trend this holiday that sees some retailers opting not to compete as aggressively for sales that day. Over the past several years, retailers have increasingly pushed back store opening times to kick off the holiday season. First they inched earlier and…

Luxury emporium Neiman Marcus became the latest retailer to cut jobs, laying off 500 corporate and support employees on Thursday. The cuts, first reported by The Dallas Morning News and confirmed by a Neiman spokeswoman, include 157 jobs in Dallas, the hometown of Neiman Marcus, which recently filed paperwork to once again be listed on the…

J.C. Penney on Friday said it's cut its $5 billion pension obligation by more than 25 percent completing a lump-sum offer to 12,000 retirees and buying annuities for 43,000 retirees. No changes were made to pension plan benefits to active employees. Penney closed the plan to new hires in 2007. Most large U.S. companies only offer…

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is planning to lay off hundreds of people at its headquarters in Arkansas as part of the retail giant's efforts to pare costs, people familiar with the matter said. Fewer than 500 employees are expected to lose their jobs and an announcement could be made as early as this Friday, according to one…

Starbucks has launched a loan program to help its U.K. staff put down a deposit on a rental property. Workers who have been at Starbucks for at least one year can apply for an interest-free loan equivalent to one month's wages to use as a deposit on a house, the coffee giant's U.K. branch announced on…