What It Takes to Put on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, by the Numbers

From the pounds of confetti used to the amount of hours put in, Macy's added up all of the elements that bring the parade to life as we countdown to the 96th celebration

2.5 Mile Route - The parade route twists and turns down the streets of Manhattan, starting on West 77th street and Central Park West and ends in front of the iconic Macy's flagship store on 34th street in Herald's Square.

Fun Fact: Two to three million people line the streets to get a glimpse of the action, according to NPR.

80 to 100 Balloon Handlers - Magic wouldn't be in the air if the balloons didn't fly high in the sky. We're not just talking about little latex balloons on a string. We're talking giant balloons typically guided by 80 to 100 uniformed handlers!

28 Floats - There may have only been 28 floats per year in recent years of the parade, but each one is comprised of hundreds of different set pieces and structural elements. The floats don't drive themselves, though, as they are towed by trucks driven by members of New York City's Theatrical Teamsters union, Local 817. The drivers are even supposed to wear jackets and ties for parade duty, according to Car and Driver.

4,500 Volunteers - The Thanksgiving Day Parade marks Macy's single biggest volunteer event of the year. More than 4,500 volunteers are credited for keeping the parade alive, from the handlers that guide the balloons along the route to the variety of themed clowns that bring the energy early in the morning.

50,000+ Hours of Labor - There's a tight deadline that must be met since the annual parade falls on Thanksgiving - which means that the Parade Studio team works around the clock, 365 days a year. The team consists of approximately 27 painters, carpenters, animators, sculptors, welders, scenic/costume designers, electricians and engineers. people.com

Celebrity trailers for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade destroyed in NJ fire

The D&D Daily's Previous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Coverage
Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade: How an Old-School Tradition is Meeting Modern-Day Security Threats 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021

Lawsuits Coming?
Disabled Shoppers Struggle With Inaccessible Self-Checkouts

Blind people, wheelchair users and others say the design of typical self-service machines prevents them from shopping independently

Stores' self-checkout machines can annoy shoppers with error messages about unexpected items in the bagging area and other hiccups. But for some disabled people, they are often unusable.

Blind people can have trouble navigating the touchscreens. Deaf people might not be able to troubleshoot on kiosks that connect to a customer-service worker located somewhere else. And wheelchair users sometimes can't reach or see the screens, or fit their chairs comfortably in the space allocated to each checkout.

The problem is spreading as companies continue to install self-service transaction machines around the world, some disabled people and disability-rights activists say. It also has the potential to put the brakes on companies' efforts to automate much of the shopping experience in the name of speed and cost savings, as lawyers and lawmakers begin to scrutinize accessibility in a retail context.

In the U.S., 30% of grocery transactions were completed using self-checkout in 2021, up from 18% in 2018, according to research from FMI. wsj.com

Congress Accuses Walmart of Discrimination
Walmart fired Black hourly employees twice as often as their white coworkers at the pandemic's start, congressional report says

Congressional report finds Walmart laid off double the amount of Black workers during the pandemic.

During the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Black hourly employees at Walmart were fired nearly twice as often compared to their white colleagues, according to a recent congressional report. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis examined staffing inequities at 12 large companies between 2019 and 2021.

"Walmart had some of the largest racial inequities of the surveyed companies when it came to employment outcomes," the report says. Other companies reviewed in the report included Walt Disney, Oracle, and Chevron.

The findings come as Walmart, the country's largest private employer, has made a big push to improve racial diversity in both its store-level and managerial ranks.

During the summer of 2020, when thousands of protesters took to the streets following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Walmart pledged to do more to address systematic racism - including a $100 million donation to establish a new center on racial equity.

As of July 29 this year, Black workers comprised roughly 21% of Walmart's 1.6 million US workforce, according to the Walmart's culture, equity, diversity, and inclusion 2022 mid-year report.

The congressional report found that while Black salaried workers were promoted at a higher rate than white salaried workers (36.2% to 28.0%), Black hourly workers were promoted at a lower rate than white hourly workers (8.7% to 11.1%). businessinsider.com

Balancing Easy Returns & Skyrocketing Costs
The Smartest Ways for Companies to Manage Product Returns

Customer returns are way up over the past couple of years. How can companies make it easy for customers, without seeing their costs skyrocket?

From 2019 to last year, the rate of returns in the U.S. more than doubled to some 16.6% of retail sales-meaning $761 billion of goods were returned in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. At the same time, returns are becoming more costly, with shipping and labor costs rising.

So companies have every reason to make returns more difficult. Except for one thing: the consumer.

"Customers value the ability to return something so much that it might change their willingness to purchase, and it might affect... future engagement with the company," says Andrew Petersen, associate professor of marketing at Pennsylvania State University. "There's an optimal balance between what product returns can do for you from a customer perspective, and then what they cost you from an economic perspective."

So the goal for companies is a tricky one: How do you have return policies that are flexible enough to keep customers, but not so costly that companies lose money? And even better, is there a way to use the return experience to actually increase sales rather than just be a drain on company results?

● Make it easy
● Let customers return things at different places
● Stop requiring printed return labels and boxes for online returns
● One size doesn't fit all
● Let customers keep the item-sometimes
● Use technology to help root out fraud
● Use returns data to improve the product lineup and buying experience wsj.com

NRF Calls on Congress to Take Action to Avert a Catastrophic Rail Strike
"Millions of hardworking Americans rely on the freight rail system for their jobs and the economic security of our country. A nationwide rail strike during the peak holiday season will be devastating for American businesses, consumers and the U.S. economy.

"American businesses and families are already facing increased prices due to persistent inflation, and a rail strike will create greater inflationary pressures and will threaten business resiliency. Congress must intervene immediately to avoid a rail strike and a catastrophic shutdown of the freight rail system.

"Smooth and stable operations on the rails is absolutely crucial this holiday season and should not be derailed by a rejection of the contract. Eight of the 12 unions have ratified the agreement, while four have rejected it. The parties must work out the issues and ratify the contract without a disruption to the system. If not, Congress must step in to prevent a strike before the end of the cooling off period on December 8."

According to a report from the Association of American Railroads, a nationwide rail shutdown could halt nearly 7,000 freight trains and cost more than $2 billion a day. nrf.com

Sally Beauty Supply announces 100s of store closures next month

Sheetz is selling unleaded 88 gas for $1.99 a gallon for Thanksgiving

Updated list: These stores will be closed on Thanksgiving


Quarterly Results

Capri Holdings Q2 total revenue up 8.6%
   Versace revenue up 9.2%
   Jimmy Choo revenue up 3.6%
   Michael Kors revenue up 9.2%

Dollar Tree Q3 comp's up 6.5%, DT comp's up 8.5%, FD comp's up 4.1%, consolidated net sales up 8.1%

Urban Outfitters Q3 Retail comp's up 4%, Retail sales up 2%, Wholesale sales down 3%, net sales up 4%

Tapestry Q1 revenue up 2%
   Coach net sales flat
   Kate Spade net sales up 7%
   Stuart Weitzman net sales down 2%

Abercrombie & Fitch Q3 Hollister net sales down 12%, Abercrombie net sales up 10%, net sales down 3%

American Eagle Q3 Aerie comp's down 3% - sales up 11%, AE comp's down 10% - sales down 11%, digital down 5%, total revenue down 3%

Best Buy Q3 domestic comp's down 10.5% - sales down 10.3% - digital down 11.6%, Intern comp's down 9.3% - sales down 14.9%, Enterprise comp sales down 10.4%

Burlington Stores Q3 comp's down 17%, total sales down 11%

More Online Shopping Means Greater Cybersecurity Risks
Holiday Shopping Online: Safety on Black Friday, Cyber Monday

What are the latest online security tips as we head into another holiday season? What's the best cyber advice, and what shopping trends should you watch out for?

Two years ago, as we were heading into the first holiday season in a century amid a global pandemic, everything about shopping changed. At that time, I wrote a blog that proclaimed, "COVID-19 Turning Black Friday into 'Cyber November.'" Here's an excerpt from the way we were:

"Move over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, because our global pandemic is changing our new normal - again. In 2020, holiday shopping is more virtual than ever, with deals coming earlier in November.

"While experts are predicting more online shopping than ever before between now and the end of the year, at the same time, the pandemic has driven more working from home and more cyberthreats in the public and private sectors."

Tried and Tested - using websites that are globally known, such as Argos, Amazon and Curry's, is a good way to avoid any nasty surprises. Even if it is a couple of pounds more, it is worth knowing where your money is going and that your purchase will be tracked and delivered.

Check for the padlock icon when at the checkout. Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) are used to ensure data is encrypted before being transmitted across the web. It is also an indication that an organization has been verified. Keep an eye out for HTTPS in the address bar rather than HTTP, as this highlights that a site uses SSL.

Use antivirus software that will warn you of potentially dangerous sites in search results as well. Look for suspicious emails, as well as suspicious calls and text messages. Never click on a link you are unsure of, and never provide personal information over the phone. govtech.com

FBI Trying to Catch Up with Ransomware 'Geek Squad'
Ransomware: Did Law Enforcement Lose Ground Early On?

Renee Dudley Says FBI Culture Used to Alienate Those With Cyber Skills

A decade ago, ransomware was one of the internet's petty street crimes. But it has now evolved into a major threat to enterprises and sometimes, a national security concern.

Did the FBI take ransomware as seriously as it should have in the early days? Renee Dudley, a technology reporter with ProPublica, says it didn't.

The reason traces back to a culture at the agency that didn't have much respect for people with cyber skills, calling them the "geek squad." Cyber skills were undervalued and at odds with an often macho culture at the agency, she says.

As a result, agents with cyber skills "were fleeing the bureau," says Dudley, the co-author of "The Ransomware Hunting Team," a recently released book about a band of technical experts who tirelessly work to find technical mistakes in ransomware to help victims unlock files. "Retention for agents in the cyber division was not good, she says.

Dudley says the agency these days takes ransomware very seriously, and it has been working to change its culture to attract people with the digital skills the agency needs. In this audio interview with Information Security Media group, Dudley also discusses:

● How the Netherlands uses "off-center" targeting to disrupt cybercrime and ransomware gangs;
● If banning ransom payments is a viable legislative option to fight ransomware;
● If anti-ransomware plans by governments will affect cybercriminal gangs. govinfosecurity.com

Government Sounds the Alarm Over Ransomware
Decoding the government's dire ransomware warnings

Despite the government's best efforts, squashing ransomware still remains one of U.S. cyber officials' toughest tasks.

During public appearances at the Aspen Cyber Summit earlier this week, government officials gave a rare glimpse into just how difficult ransomware is to fight. "We've only seen the problem continue to get worse, even with all of the efforts we've made," said Paul Abbate, deputy director of the FBI, during the summit.

"Ransomware continues to happen at unacceptable levels," said Rob Silvers, the Department of Homeland Security's under secretary for strategy, policy and plans, at the event. "We see enough attempted intrusion, and successful intrusions, every day that we're not letting our guard down even a little bit."

The U.S. government has thrown all of its resources at the ransomware problem since an attack forced the Colonial Pipeline to shut down last year. But that still isn't enough to deter ransomware criminals.

In recent months, most government officials have either focused their public remarks about ransomware on the work they're doing to fight ransomware or on the success those efforts have had. The White House hosted a group of 36 other governments earlier this month to discuss their counter-ransomware efforts. axios.com

Remote Work's Ongoing Cybersecurity Impact
How remote working impacts security incident reporting

Security teams must update their security incident reporting policies and processes to account for remote work or risk exposure to increased threats.

The ability for employees to work remotely comes with many benefits, from better work-life balance to lower expenses to higher productivity. But a widely dispersed workforce can pose some great challenges for security teams, not least of which is how remote work affects security incident reporting. With companies growing more accustomed to implementing security technologies and processes better attuned to mass remote working, incident reporting has the potential to become a major stumbling block.

Along with introducing and maintaining such protocols as remote-appropriate identity access and authorization practices, security teams must also review and adjust their reporting policies to reflect the nature of remote work or expose their organizations to significant security threats.

Having a remote workforce can create an overload of security incidents simply due to the diversity of networks created by a multitude of user home or remote setups, as opposed to an office environment whereby everyone is on the same network, Forrester Senior Analyst Paddy Harrington tells CSO. "It's one thing managing 12 networks because you have 12 offices, but if you have 1000 employees, 900 of which are remote, you have 912 networks to be concerned with. This means that incidents, including those that are reported, are going to vary a great deal more because everybody's home network is different." And that can lead to alert fatigue for security teams if even just a fraction of incidents are reported, Harrington says. csoonline.com

How Xi Jinping leveled-up China's hacking teams
China's investments in cybersecurity education set the stage for a new, more prolific era of digital espionage

Microsoft Warns of Rise in Stolen Cloud Tokens Used to Bypass MFA

DraftKings says no evidence systems were breached following report of a hack

5 free resources from the CISA

Memphis, TN: Police searching for shoplifters - some with guns - who stormed Walmart and took merchandise
Memphis Police are searching for nearly two dozen people they said stormed a Walmart to steal merchandise. MPD investigators said about 9 p.m. Sunday, about 22 suspects - some of them armed - went into the Walmart store on Elvis Presley, south of Holmes Rd. According to the police report, the suspects broke a window in the automotive section of the store and entered, then began stealing speakers, flat screen TVs, shop vacs, car batteries, two Black Panther scooters from the kid's section, and more. Police said the group grabbed the merchandise and then took off out of the store.

Investigators said the mass of shoplifters left the store in about 20 different vehicles - described as Infiniti, Dodge, Chrysler, and Kia models. The police report said there was surveillance video of the incident, which has not been released. According to the police report, one security guard recognized another suspect who they said came in through the front door, grabbed a speaker and threw it in a cart, then tried to leave. The report said the guard recognized the suspect from 201 Poplar. The report said the suspect told the guard "he thought the others were gone now as a ruse to escape" and took off. localmemphis.com

Fenton, MO: Four women face $12,000 felony theft charges at Kohl's
Four women facing felony stealing charges in St. Louis County were arrested outside the Kohl's store, 2150 Michigan Ave., in Arnold after allegedly stealing more than $12,000 worth of cosmetics from the Kohl's store in Fenton, Arnold Police reported. Lavina Ghelmegeanu, 33, of Austin, Texas; Desdemona Dila, 39, of Houston; Ana Curueru, 31, of Conroe, Texas; and Ecsmira Vasile, 32, who had no local address listed, were charged with stealing $750 or more, a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, court records show. The women are Romanian, Arnold Police reported.

At about 2 p.m. Nov. 11, a Kohl's employee called Arnold Police to the store after being informed by the Fenton store that four women were suspected of stealing cosmetics from that location earlier that afternoon. When officers arrived at the Arnold store, the women were leaving and got into a Honda Odyssey van that had a Texas license plate, the report said. The officers stopped the van after it left the parking lot, and they allegedly found a trash bag of cologne and perfume in the bag, according to the report.

The women allegedly were found with more than $22,000 worth of stolen property when they were arrested, St. Louis County Police reported. Police reported the women were not found with any items from the Arnold Kohl's, but investigators believe the women were responsible for similar thefts at Kohl's stores in the area, St. Louis County Police reported. myleaderpaper.com

Portland, OR: 3 teens arrested in stolen vehicle after burglaries at several SE Portland pot shops
Three teenagers were arrested after multiple marijuana dispensaries were burglarized overnight, according to the Portland Police Bureau. The suspects are accused of burglarizing Nectar at 9222 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard around 1:30 a.m., Eden Cannabis at Southeast 60th and Southeast Foster around 2:10 a.m. and Five Zero Trees at 10209 Southeast Division Street around 3:10 a.m. According to police, the suspects used stolen Kia's to drive through doors, giving them entry into the stores. PPB Air Support helped officers in following the stolen car until it stopped. The three suspects, all boys between 14 and 15 years old, were arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Center. kptv.com

Berks County,. PA: 3 suspects sought in Caernarvon Walmart theft investigation
On October 22, 2022 between 9:03-9:20pm, three people arrived at the Walmart located at 100 Crossings Blvd and loaded carts with computers and TV's. Police say one actor left the store while the other two remained near a rear side door with the carts. A black Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled up to the side door as they two males were exiting with the carts. Investigators believe these same people, and vehicle, are responsible for at least 9 other related Walmart thefts in Somerdale, NJ, Norristown, PA, Audubon, NJ, Middletown, DE, Hamburg, PA and Boothwyn, PA. In addition, the suspects are known to have hit the same location multiple times. On October 16, 2022 at 10:45pm, police say they were in the Walmart in Tilden Township, and committed a similar theft where an employee confronted them. One suspect then lifted his shirt to display a firearm and made a verbal threat to the employee. berksweekly.com

Abilene, TX: Two suspects caught stealing from Abilene stores say they were 'shoplifting for the holidays'
Clarissa Davis - Theft of Property, Evading Arrest, Criminal Trespass. Davis was contacted after she took $334 worth of items from an Abilene store without paying. She was seen walking around after the theft. When officers tried to contact her, she fled on foot and ran away. After she was apprehended, she admitted to stealing the items "since Christmas was coming up". She had been warned from the property before. Michael Rogers - Theft of Property. Rogers was contacted in reference to a theft at an Abilene store. He told investigators he did steal property because "he was in need for the holiday season." bigcountryhomepage.com