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The Morning Ledger: Macy's Novel Plan to Shrink Its Way to Growth |
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The aisles of a newly renovated Macy's magnet store in Glendale, Ariz. PHOTO: PATRICK BREEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Good day. Macy's Inc. has launched a radical experiment aimed at its revival: with too much space and too few shoppers, the retailer plans to reduce the amount of merchandise and the number of employees at its slower-performing stores, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Testing the waters: Macy's will wall off entire sections at some locations and leave the space empty to save money on staffing and inventory while improving the chain's sometimes lackluster shopping experience. “People don’t have to walk through 200,000 square feet to find what they’re looking for,” said Macy’s Chief Executive Jeff Gennette.
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Too much space: Americans for decades made a habit of shopping at large department stores, with escalators and holiday window displays. That retail sector has been losing ground since the 1980s—first to discounters like Walmart Inc. and more recently to off-price chains like T.J. Maxx and online sellers like Amazon.com Inc.—leaving it with too much space.
Subleasing: Macy’s has already struck leases with Luxottica Group SpA's Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters and other companies that have moved into its stores, helping defray costs and draw in new shoppers.
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New York City and Northern Virginia will be the homes for Amazon.com Inc.’s second and third headquarters, ending a more than yearlong public contest that started with 238 candidates. The imminent announcement is expected as soon as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tyson Foods Inc., Switch Inc. and Hillenbrand Inc. are among the companies reporting earnings Tuesday.
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Stocks: The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled about 600 points Monday as anxiety over the health of technology behemoths sparked a broad retreat from the stock market.
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Crude oil: Oil prices notched their longest losing streak on record Monday, as comments from President Trump negated expectations that OPEC and its alies will cut production.
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Currencies: The U.S. dollar jumped to its highest level in a year-and-a-half on Monday, propelled by expectations for higher U.S. interest rates and concerns about an uncertain political landscape in Europe.
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SEC Calls For More Detailed Disclosure on Brexit Impact |
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is sharpening its focus on corporate disclosures about the risks associated with the U.K.’s exit from the European Union, Chairman Jay Clayton told company controllers and accountants during a conference on Monday.
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“My personal view is that the potential impact of Brexit has been understated,” Mr. Clayton said, speaking at the Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference, hosted by professional organization Financial Executives International in New York.
“I would expect companies to be looking at this closely and sharing their views with the investment community,” Mr. Clayton added.
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Diageo Boosts Share Repurchase Program After Asset Sale |
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U.K. spirits maker Diageo PLC will return the proceeds of its asset sale to Sazerac Co. to shareholders, following through on its commitment to pass on excess capital to investors.
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The London-based company on Monday announced it would dispose of 19 brands predominantly sold in North America, including Seagram’s 83 and Myers’s Rum.
Diageo will increase its existing £2 billion ($2.6 billion) share-repurchase program by about £340 million, the after-tax proceeds of the Sazerac-deal, Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells said Monday in an interview with CFO Journal's Nina Trentmann. “We are following a pretty disciplined approach” with regards to capital allocation and “give excess capital back to shareholders.”
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CFO Ruth Porat said Google is adding talent at a faster pace outside Silicon Valley than at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
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Alphabet Inc.’s Google said it plans to double its workforce in New York City to more than 14,000 employees over the next 10 years, setting up a battle for East Coast talent with tech rival Amazon.com Inc.
Palantir Technologies Inc. is a Silicon Valley data analysis firm with a $20 billion valuation that hasn't turned a profit in its 14-year history. As it edges toward going public, Chief Executive Alex Karp is under pressure to remake the business.
Health-care software firm Athenahealth Inc. is selling itself to two private-equity firms for $5.47 billion in cash months after an activist investor offered to take the business private.
Cosmetics giant Coty Inc. said its chief executive resigned and its chairman was stepping aside, as the company struggles with falling sales and indigestion from buying dozens of Procter & Gamble Co.'s beauty brands.
Snap Inc.’s head of content plans to leave the social-media company by year’s end, bringing to at least a half dozen the number of executives who have left the firm over the past year.
Vodafone Group PLC's new CEO Nick Read said he would reduce operating costs by €1.2 billion ($1.35 billion) by 2021 and review its tower assets to drive higher returns at the world’s second largest mobile operator, Reuters reports.
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Signage outside Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., where French regulators will likely visit as part of a pilot program beginning in January. PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
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A team of French regulators will spend six months monitoring how Facebook Inc. removes certain kinds of illicit content as part of a pilot program to establish a new model for regulating global technology firms.
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The Trump administration is broadening its China trade battle beyond tariffs with a plan to use export controls, indictments and other tools to counter the theft of intellectual property, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Bayer AG on Tuesday disclosed another jump in the number of lawsuits alleging the German company’s recently acquired weedkillers cause cancer, a sign that the issue that has wiped billions off Bayer's market valuation isn’t fading away.
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Emirati energy minister Suhail al-Mazroui, left, and Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih denied that the oil cartel is at risk of disbanding. PHOTO: KARIM SAHIB/GETTY IMAGES
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Few executives at the world’s integrated oil giants are talking about ramping up spending soon. That raises a big question: Should they be spending more?
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The U.S. has launched a new strategy aimed at ramping up investment in Asia to vie with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s overseas infrastructure-building spree, as Beijing grapples with setbacks to its sprawling program.
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U.K. wages rose by 3.2% in the three months to September, the fastest pace in nearly a decade, the BBC reports.
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Halliburton Co., the Houston oilfield services company, named Lance Loeffler its chief financial officer. He succeeds Chris Webber, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
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Mr. Loeffler was most recently Halliburton's vice president of investor relations. He joined the company in 2014 as vice president of corporate development, a role he held for two years before taking the top job in investor relations. Compensation details weren't immediately available.
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