 |
|
|
|||||
Target CEO Michael Fiddelke is reshuffling his leadership team and making other changes shortly after stepping into the top job at the retailer that has struggled operationally. Rick Gomez, the 13-year Target veteran who oversees the chain’s vast inventory of merchandise, will leave the company. And Jill Sando, the chief merchandising officer overseeing a handful of categories like apparel and home and who has been with the company since 1997, will retire. Lisa Roath, who oversaw food, essentials, and cosmetics, will take Fiddelke’s previous job as chief operating officer, the company said Tuesday. Cara Sylvester, who had been chief guest experience officer, will become the company’s chief merchandising officer. The changes will allow Target to move with greater speed, Fiddelke said. Its the start of a new chapter for Target, and were moving quickly to take action against our priorities that will drive growth within our business, Fiddelke said in a release. Gomez and Sando will remain with the company for a short time to help with the transition, but the changes become effective Sunday. Also on Tuesday, the company reiterated its profit guidance. It is also increasing investment in store staffing at stores while eliminating about 500 jobs at distribution centers and regional offices, according to a memo sent to employees that Target shared with The Associated Press. The cuts make up just a tiny fraction of Target’s overall employee count of more than 400,000. It is the first substantial change under Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran who took over for Brian Cornell this month. The company’s decision to choose an insider surprised many industry analysts who believe the company needs new ideas as it tries to revive sales. Target has struggled to find its footing as many Americans have cut back on spending. Customers have also complained of disheveled stores that are missing the budget-priced niche that long ago earned the retailer the nickname Tarzhay. The company has also been buffeted by consumer boycotts and backlash after it scaled back its corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It has also faced protests for what some critics see as an insufficient response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis, its hometown, where two U.S. citizens where fatally shot last month by federal agents. Target has not commented publicly after federal agents detaining two of its employees this month although Fiddelke sent a video message to the companys 400,000 workers calling recent violence incredibly painful.” Fiddelke was one of 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies who signed an open letter in January calling for state, local, and federal officials to find a solution after the fatal shootings. Anne D’Innocenzio, AP retail writer
Category:
E-Commerce
Paramount is again sweetening its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, while again extending the deadline for its tender offer as it scrambles for more shareholder support. On Tuesday, the Skydance-owned company said it would pay Warner shareholders an added ticking fee if its deal doesn’t go through by the end of the year amounting to 25 cents per share, or a total of $650 million, for every quarter after Dec. 31. Paramount also pledged to fund Warner’s proposed $2.8 billion breakup payout to Netflix under its studio and streaming merger agreement. The value of Paramount’s offer otherwise remains unchanged. The company is offering to pay $30 per share in cash to Warner’s stakeholders, who now have until March 2 to tender their shares. In a statement, Paramount CEO David Ellison said that the additional benefits announced Tuesday clearly underscore our strong and unwavering commitment to delivering the full value WBD shareholders deserve for their investment. Paramount wants to buy Warner’s entire company for $77.9 billion, with a total enterprise value of $108 billion including debt. Beyond studio and streaming operations, that includes Warner’s networks like CNN and Discovery. But it has a long way to go in terms of getting shareholder support which, according to recent company disclosures, has appeared to decline over the last month. As of Monday, Paramount said that more than 42.3 million Warner shares had been validly tendered and not withdrawn from its bid, down from over 168.5 million Warner shares on Jan. 21. Warner has about 2.48 billion shares outstanding in series A common stock today. Paramount would need more than 50% to effectively gain control of the company. Netflix and Warner did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The new March 2 deadline marks the third time Paramount has pushed back the expiration of its tender offer, which it may keep extending. Paramount has also promised a proxy fight. Last month, the company begun soliciting proxies to challenge Warner’s agreement with Netflix. Warner’s leadership has consistently backed the deal it struck with Netflix. In December, Netflix agreed to buy Warners studio and streaming business for $72 billion now in an all-cash transaction that the companies have said will speed up the path to a shareholder vote by April. Including debt, the enterprise value of the deal is about $83 billion, or $27.75 per share. Netflix and Warner have maintained that their agreement is better Paramount’s bid. But Paramount argues that its offer is superior and on Tuesday pointed to a sliding scale value of the Netflix merger, which could range from $21.23 to $27.75 per share, depending on debt spanning from Warner’s previously announced spinoff of its networks business. Unlike Paramount, Netflix doesn’t want to acquire Warner networks like CNN and Discovery. Under Netflix-Warner’ agreement, Discovery Global would become its own separate public company before their merger is closed. The prospect of a Warner sale to either company has raised tremendous antitrust concerns from lawmakers worldwide. The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated reviews of both Warner’s agreement with Netflix and Paramount’s hostile bid with all three companies disclosing that they’ve been in contact with the DOJ over requests for more information. The companies have argued their proposed deals will be good news for consumers and the wider entertainment industry, claiming that merging will give streaming customers more content through bigger libraries. But unions and other trade groups have warned that further consolidation in the industry could result in job losses and less diversity in content with particularly negative consequences for filmmaking. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, AP business writer
Category:
E-Commerce
Under questioning from Democrats Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick’s previous claim that he had cut ties with the late financier after 2005. Lutnick again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his neighbor in New York City as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart. I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him, Lutnick told lawmakers. But Lutnick is facing growing scrutiny, including calls for his resignation, from lawmakers after the release of case files on Epstein contradicted Lutnick’s claims on a podcast last year that he had decided to never be in the room with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife. The commerce secretary told senators Tuesday that he and his family actually had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and he had another hour-long engagement at Epstein’s home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, is the highest-profile U.S. official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid revelations of his ties to Epstein. His acknowledgement comes as lawmakers are grasping for what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what’s known as the Epstein files. In countries like the United Kingdom, the Epstein files have triggered resignations and the stripping of royal privileges, but so far, U.S. officials have not met the same level of retribution. Senators want to dig into Lutnick’s ties to Epstein Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who questioned Lutnick, told him, “There’s not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It’s the fact that you believe that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements.” Van Hollen, D-Md., stopped short of calling for Lutnick’s resignation on Monday, but requested documentation from Lutnick on any of his ties to Epstein. It’s absolutely essential that he provide Congress with those documents, given the misrepresentations he’s made, and then we’ll go from there, he said. Lutnick during the Senate hearing said he would give that request some thought, adding, I have nothing to hide. However, several Senate Republicans were also questioning Lutnick’s relationship with Epstein. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the visit to Epstein’s private island would raise questions. And Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters, It’s something I’m concerned with. Tillis stayed away from calling for Lutnick to leave his post, but added that he would do himself a service by just laying exactly what and what did not happen over the course of what seems to be an interesting relationship that included business entanglements. A pair of House members call for resignation Meanwhile, House members who initiated the legislative effort to force the release of the files are calling for Lutnick to resign. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for that over the weekend after emails were released that alluded to the meetings between Lutnick and Epstein. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, joined Massie in pressuring Lutnick out of office on Monday. Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet, Khanna said. He added, It’s not about any particular person. In this country, we have to make a decision. Are we going to allow the rich and powerful people who are friends and (had) no problem doing business and showing up with a pedophile who is raping underage girls, are we just going to allow them to skate? Stephen Groves, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||