OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Home Depot promotes Marc Powers to U.S. stores head
Atlanta -- The Home Depot announced that it has named Marc Powers executive VP, U.S. stores, effective Nov. 1, 2014. He replaces Marvin Ellison, who was recently named president and CEO designee of J.C. Penney Co.
Survey: Data breaches scare away customers
Austin, Texas -- Almost half of Americans are likely to avoid shopping at stores that were affected by data breaches in the past year. According to a new CreditCards.com report, 45% of major credit and debit card holders say they would “definitely” or “probably not” shop at a retailer where consumers’ personal information (including credit and debit card data) was exposed.

Target Canada opens three new stores

Mississauga, Ont. -- Target Canada is opening three new stores Oct. 17, located in Ottawa, Ont; Sheridan Centre in Mississauga, Ont. and Polo Park in Winnipeg, Man. The opening of the three new stores marks the final stores scheduled to open in 2014 and brings the total number of Target Canada stores open across the country to 133.
Industry Commentary: C-stores evolving quickly amid rising expectation

Las Vegas -- Today’s convenience stores face growing pressure to evolve amid the ramped-up expectations of global consumers, according to remarks made by Joseph Bona, president of branded environments at brand agency and retail design consultancy CBX, and Dan Munford, managing firector of U.K.-based Insight, convenience and petroleum retail strategy specialists, at the National Association of Convenience Stores’ annual convention in Las Vegas.
Starbucks boosting pay and relaxing dress code for workers; gives OK to tattoos

Seattle – Starbucks Coffee Co. is increasing the pay and relaxing the dress code of its U.S. store employees to allow for tattoos and other forms of self-expression to show.
Dollar General to build new DC in San Antonio, Texas

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corporation announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art distribution center in San Antonio, Texas. It will be the 13th facility in the retailer’s growing distribution network.
RadioShack to roll out Apple Pay, starting in five markets

Fort Worth, Texas -- Starting next week, RadioShack will roll out its initial launch of Apple Pay at more than 900 RadioShack locations in five key markets: Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Fairway names chief merchandising officer

New York -- Fairway Group Holdings announced that Dorothy Carlow will join the supermarket company as chief merchandising officer, effective Nov. 3. Carlow will lead the merchandising team and the company's buying and sales strategies.
Destination Maternity plans Israel expansion

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. will expand into Israel through an international franchise agreement with Israeli fashion retail chain H&O Fashion Ltd. (H&O). Through this relationship, Destination Maternity will introduce its Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod, and Destination Maternity brands into Israel, with the first franchise locations expected to open in spring 2015.
Whole Foods Market deploys Voxware’s voice technology in its distribution centers

Hamilton, N.J. -- Voxware, a voice application company, announced that Whole Foods Market saw productivity gains of 25-35% after implementing the latest version of Voxware’s voice solution in the grocer’s largest distribution center. Whole Foods has expanded its deployment of Voxware Voice Management Suite to its other nine DCs with scheduled completion in Oct. 2014.