Personnel

Retailer Ann Inc., whose brands include Ann Taylor and Loft, is eliminating about 100 positions from its corporate workforce, the company announced Friday. Although Ann provided a weaker-than-expected revenue outlook for the year, its earnings nearly doubled in its fiscal fourth quarter, which included the crucial holiday shopping season. A spokeswoman for Ann Inc. said that the 100 positions being eliminated include some that are open, and most are at its New York headquarters. The positions represent about 10 percent of the company's corporate workforce.

President Obama, in rewarding Gap for its decision to raise minimum wage for its store workers, paid an unexpected visit to one of its namesake stores in New York on Tuesday, reportedly spending about $150 for the First Lady and their daughters. However, the shopping trip to drum up support for his minimum wage hike call to $10.10 from $7.25 may not do much to change most retailers' thinking on the issue. Despite Gap's move to raise minimum wage for its 65,000 workers, most retailers have chosen to stay on the sidelines to

Ron Johnson, the former J.C. Penney chief executive who was ousted last year after a controversial attempt to modernize the retail chain, didn't receive severance when he left the company. Johnson and Chief Talent Officer Daniel Walker, who also resigned in April 2013, both didn't receive severance payments, according to a company filing yesterday. Michael Kramer, the former chief operating officer, did get a payout, though the company reduced his termination agreement by $1 million. He was paid a total of $2.35 million last year. The lack of severance serves as an endnote to Johnson's tumultuous career at J.C. Penney.

The recent holiday season provided an example of a consumer-driven "correction" taking place in the retail industry, Nike CEO Mark Parker told CNBC on Thursday, and that's created a big priority for the sneaker and athletics company. "Obviously there's a huge appetite from a consumer standpoint for digital products — e-commerce, digitally based commerce I should say," Parker said during an interview on "Squawk on the Street." "We'll see that continue. This holiday was a great example of how the consumer is shifting, not only to digital but mobile-based digital commerce."

RadioShack said Wednesday its board approved retention bonuses of up to $1.49 million combined for top executives, aiming to keep its leadership in place during the company's turnaround. Executives are entitled to a bonus if they remain employed by RadioShack through March 1, 2015. Chief Executive Joseph Magnacca is in line to receive $500,000. The remaining funds would go to Chief Financial Officer John W. Feray, Human Resources Chief Telvin P. Jeffries, Executive Vice President of Store Operations Troy H. Risch and Senior Vice President of Store Concepts Michael S. DeFazio.

Target Chief Information Officer Beth Jacob is resigning as the retailer overhauls its information security and compliance division in the wake of a massive pre-Christmas data breach. Target Chairman, President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement released to The Associated Press that the company will search for an interim chief information officer who can help guide the company through the transformation. Jacob had been in her current role since 2008 and oversaw teams in the U.S. and India. 

Following a disappointing holiday season, expectations were low ahead of RadioShack's fourth-quarter report. But the results were a shock, raising concerns about its chances for survival in today's marketplace. RadioShack's Chief Executive Joseph Magnacca, along with the company's new CFO John Feray, sought to reassure investors. Feray, who joined in January, said on a call that RadioShack, which plans to shut up to 1,100 stores, isn't considering "prepackaged bankruptcy" to get out of store leases quickly. He added RadioShack has "sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations" this year. 

He's a painfully private entrepreneur with very public dreams for this city's decaying downtown core. Around Sin City, giddy officials are heralding online shoe retailer Tony Hsieh as a visionary, the latest in a line of moneyed Las Vegas dreamers such as billionaire Howard Hughes and casino mogul Steve Wynn. Mayor Carolyn Goodman says Hsieh is offering people a chance to open their dream businesses, and "that can't be bad." 

Best Buy apparently told about 2,000 managers around the United States on Wednesday that they were being laid off, a move that would be the company's biggest job reduction since July 2012 as it continues to cut costs following a weaker-than-expected holiday season. The layoffs will affect about 1.4 percent of Best Buy's 145,000-person workforce, the Star Tribune learned. 

The long-awaited earnings release and conference call of J.C. Penney's annual sales and earnings result yesterday gave an outline of the strategies the company will follow in order to be a winner. The 2013 results were impacted by the folly of the Ron Johnson era. There was merchandise that consumers didn't want that had to be marked down in order to make room for iconic brands that had been discontinued. The company's performance was also affected, as were all retailers, by the brutal weather that forced the closing of dozens of stores throughout the Central and Northern states.