Target

If you're one to predict if the holidays will be successful by how many seasonal employees companies hire, than this year we're going to be seeing a lot of happy retailers. Several companies have announced that they’re ramping up their seasonal hiring for the holidays.

Cultural variances are present in brick-and-mortar stores, from what products are offered to how they're merchandised, but these nuances are often lost online. Too often, language is an afterthought. In today's global economy, retailers that are able to replicate the in-store experience and provide a localized approach to online shopping will have a significant advantage.

Haggar Clothing Co. is beefing up its digital operation with an emphasis on mobile. The Dallas-based men's apparel maker created a new position, chief digital officer, and hired Eve Richey last week to fill the post. She's coming to Haggar from shoe company Toms, where she was vice president for global digital marketing. As a supplier to major U.S. chains including Kohl's, J.C. Penney, Macy's, Target, Sears, Belk and Amazon.com, Haggar is seeing more of its sales move online at those stores and on its own direct-to-consumer business.

Home Depot said Thursday that a data breach that lasted for months at its stores in the U.S. and Canada affected 56 million debit and credit cards, far more than a pre-Christmas 2013 attack on Target customers. The size of the theft at Home Depot trails only that of TJX Companies’ breach of 90 million records in 2007. Target's breach compromised 40 million credit and debit cards. Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer, said that the malware used in the data breach that took place between April and September has been eliminated. 

Nike announced Wednesday that it would be suspending its contract with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in light of his recent child abuse charges. "Nike in no way condones child abuse or domestic violence of any kind and has shared our concerns with the NFL," a press representative for the company said. Also, Target confirmed that stores were pulling Peterson merchandise from shelves on Wednesday, as well as on the retailer's website. A spokesperson said the decision was made taking into account the feedback it had been hearing from guests.

For many consumers, Target had lost its way. The man tasked with getting Target back on track, Brian Cornell, who was named the company's new CEO in July, took his first significant steps in that process this week.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know by now that Apple launched a bevy of new products and services yesterday in a star-studded (can you say Bono?) event in Cupertino, Calif. Of all the the major announcements — the launch of the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus, the Apple Watch and Apple Pay — the latter is arguably the most important news for retailers.

As the summer winds down, students head back to school and there's a predictable upward trend in e-commerce activity in a number of categories. Scholars and their families are flocking to university websites to select courses, register and make tuition payments, and they're heading in droves to retailers like Ikea, Best Buy and Target to buy important supplies, furniture, electronics, clothing and more for the coming academic year. The National Retail Federation's 2014 Back-to-School Survey predicts the average family with children in grades K-12 will spend $669.28 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics this back-to-school season, up 5 percent from 2013.

Just when you thought it was safe to start accepting credit cards again…
Home Depot confirmed yesterday that it’s investigating some “unusual activity” with regards to its customer data.

A payment card industry security consortium warned retailers on Wednesday of the urgency to secure their systems against "Backoff," a malicious software program that steals card numbers. Backoff "represents a very real threat to the security of cardholder data in all organizations," wrote the PCI Security Standards Council, an organization founded by MasterCard, Visa, American Express and other credit card companies. The U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security warned last week that 1,000 U.S. businesses may be infected by Backoff, which wasn't detected by most anti-virus security software until earlier this month.