Holiday retail hiring is off to a relatively strong start with 141,500 jobs added in October, but overall hiring for the season may be a bit slower than last year, according to layoff consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Management
Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile announced that CEO Diane Irvine has resigned from the company, effective Nov. 11. Vijay Talwar, Blue Nile's senior vice president and general manager of international, has been appointed interim CEO.
Urban Outfitters announced a series of management changes across all its brands, including naming David W. McCreight to the new position of CEO, Anthropologie Group, effective Nov. 15.
eBay launched a new celebrity landing page that aggregates celebrity content, charity auctions, and the breadth and selection of related products unique to eBay.
Family Dollar launched an in-store shopper behavior monitoring system using video and advanced analytics in 20 of its stores, measuring customersโ real-time interactions with designs, displays and promotions.
Ascena Retail Group announced that John Sullivan has been appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer. In this newly created position, Sullivan will be responsible for information technology, distribution and human resources information systems across all brands.
From the start, the casual shoes were known by a single name: Vans. James Van Doren, who ran the company from 1976 to 1984, died Oct. 12 at his home in Fullerton after a long illness, said his wife, Char. He was 72.
Aaronโs announced that for personal health reasons Robert C. Loudermilk Jr. has resigned his position as president and chief executive officer of the company.
Starbucks, which laid off 39,000 employees over the two years ending last fall, is about to start hiring again. By yearโs end, Starbucks will have a new barista battalion, some 3,500 strong, pulling on their aprons and dealing with steam burns. Next year will see 200 new Starbucks added to the nearly 11,000 existing ones. Those will need to be staffed up while 1,700 other Starbucks go through job-creation remodeling.
Target's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Doug Scovanner plans to retire from his posts next year. The discounter said that Scovanner will retire on March 31, 2012.