OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Atlanta -- United Parcel Service Inc. said it will expand UPS My Choice and the UPS Access Point network, two of the company’s services that work together to provide online shoppers and global retailers with new personalized solutions to manage residential package deliveries.

UPS My Choice, the customizable online and mobile service where consumers choose delivery preferences and more, will now be available to consumers in 15 additional countries throughout North America and Europe. The service was introduced in the U.S. in 2011.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us has appointed Michael Melzer as managing director, Central Europe, responsible for the company’s operations throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including 91 stores and four e-commerce sites.

Melzer previously served as managing director of Staples in Germany, overseeing both its retail stores and online business. Before that, he spent five years with the department store chain Karstadt, first as director, corporate development and later as managing director of its e-commerce business.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. announced that its chairman and CEO, Glen Murphy, will step down, effective February 1, 2015. He will be succeeded by Art Peck, the president of the company’s growth, innovation and digital division.

Murphy and Peck have worked side-by-side for the better part of a decade as Gap dramatically improved its financial performance while expanding globally, the company said.

Austin, Texas - Starmount has donated laptop computers to Retail ROI to help equip a computer lab at the Hogar de Niños Tía Tatiana School, an inner-city school in Herrera that’s located in an impoverished area in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The laptops will be used to help replace outdated computers at the school, which serves more than 500 children.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday said it will no longer provide health benefits to part-time associates who work less than 30 hours a week in a move to control its rising healthcare costs. The chain, the nation’s largest private employer, said the decision will impact about 2% of its total U.S. work force.

The announcement follows similar decisions by Target, Home Depot, Walgreens and Trader Joe’s to cut health insurance benefits for part-time associates.  

Mount Laurel, N.J. -- Agilence announced that Coborn's will deploy the Retail 20/20 exception reporting solution to reduce shrink and improve in-store operations.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. - Johnny Rockets has reached its first agreement to distribute private label menu items for home consumption. Blackwood Industries, Inc., based in Orlando, Florida, has been selected to distribute branded hamburger patties and other related products via retail, as of Oct. 1, 2015.  

This comes on the heels of a recent Johnny Rockets announcement to launch Johnny Rockets Route 66 and Johnny Rockets Express restaurant banners.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Curbside, a new startup that specializes in same-day pickup from local stores, launched its service on Monday with several retailers on board, including a pilot with Target Corp.

The new service is currently available in 10 Target stores across the greater San Francisco Bay area, including the retailer’s Metreon and Geary St. locations downtown.