Store Associates

Ace Hardware has the most satisfied shoppers among home improvement chains for the 10th year in a row, according to J.D. Power.

Reacting to consumers’ evolving shopping behaviors, noticeably their transitioning between online and offline channels, retailers have had to make adjustments to their organizations to ensure customers and employees alike are satisfied. Internal departments that used to operate in silos — e.g., web and store teams — have become interchangeable, including how they're compensated for their…

Workforce management can be the difference between a retailer becoming a cautionary tale or thriving and going the distance to increase market share and meet customer expectations. With agile omnichannel execution, expanding fulfillment options and seamless customer engagement increasingly vital to brand loyalty and profitability, retailers are tasking their associates with more responsibilities than ever…

On April 4, the governors of California and New York voted to approve new legislation that will increase the states’ minimum wages over the next six years. Both states will gradually raise the minimum wage rates to $15 an hour by 2022. The minimum wage in New York is currently $9.00, equating to just under…

When Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy recently, some of the headlines blamed the retailer's woes on the shift to online shopping. While that's a convenient excuse — and no doubt has some validity — retailers both local and national have shown that online shopping isn't necessarily the be-all, end-all. Consider Big Lots.

J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison started day three of its annual store managers meeting on Wednesday talking about BS (business simplification). Just in case Penney store managers had any doubts about what they heard the day before, there was a bright red BS stamp covering old rules and titles of cumbersome reports on a screen behind…

A coalition of executives from some of the nation's largest companies, spearheaded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, pledged to hire 100,000 young Americans who have been shut out of the job market. The 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, which launches Monday, aims to give a leg up to some of the estimated 5.5 million Americans, ages 16…

An Apple Store employee told Tim Cook that the company treats its staff like "criminals." That's according to a recently unsealed email that's part of a lawsuit filed against Apple in 2013. The suit, filed in federal court in California, alleges that Apple Store employees weren't paid wages for time spent waiting while managers checked…