Management

As malls across the country empty out, it's no wonder their remains are being scavenged. Retailers are leaving malls whlie Protestant churches in the American suburbs are growing and franchising. Malls and churches may seem like an strange combination, like Auntie Annie's pretzels washed down with communion wine. 

Some Wal-Mart stores in China will close temporarily following accusations they sold ordinary pork as organic pork, Wal-Mart said. "We have agreed to temporarily close some stores in Chongqing for 15 days. We believe this will allow us to complete comprehensive actions to upgrade the standards in these Chongqing stores," Wal-Mart said in a statement.

I was observing a salesperson in a store where I was doing consulting not too long ago. This young lady was a very talented salesperson. She was neat, smiling with an almost contagious positive attitude — and that’s just for starters. After all, if we don’t like the person we're doing business with, we'll very rarely buy from that person. This salesperson was likeable. She had mastered the skills of listening attentively and gave strategic compliments in the most sincere of ways.

The disconnect between how executives and consumer privacy advocates view email marketing was never more obvious than during the latest hijinks surrounding Barnes & Noble's acquisition of Borders' customer data, including email addresses. As part of the Borders bankruptcy proceedings, Barnes & Noble paid $13.9 million for Borders' intellectual property, including its 48-million customer database.

Best Buy made a pretty big goof, accidentally pricing the HTC Flyer at $99.99. The electronics retailer mistakenly dropped the price on the tablet following the launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire, which is priced at $199.

Steven P. Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple who helped usher in the era of personal computers and then led a cultural transformation in the way music, movies and mobile communications were experienced in the digital age, died Oct. 5. He was 56.

It seems the Australian chain store GASP may be shuttering the location where a salesperson yelled at a shopper for failing to grasp the genius of a garment that resembles a "dead flamingo."

There’s no arguing that banks, potential investors and creditors look heavily to a company’s financial statements to determine its value. However, past financials often aren’t the whole story. Below are five additional factors to consider as you seek to maximize your company’s value, whether you plan to sell soon or simply want to be ready when that day comes.

The Finish Line has named Sally McKelvey as vice president of strategy for the Finish Line brand. McKelvey previously served as senior director, operations financial planning and analysis, at 7-Eleven.

Kohl's announced it anticipates hiring more than 40,000 associates nationwide this holiday season, up approximately 5 percent from last year due to store growth in 2011. Kohl’s is bringing on additional associates to provide shoppers with excellent customer service throughout the holiday season.