Walmart Stores US Brings AP Leadership Team Together for Its Annual National Meeting

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Any We Wonder Why Victims Don’t Report Sooner:
What we can learn from the Antonio Brown Case?

By Dave Thompson, CFI
VP of Operations, Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates

Here we go again. A report of rape and sexual assault where everyone, including NFL reporters, suddenly becomes an expert on how victims should react after a rape. Unless you’ve shut yourself off from all news outlets, you are well aware of the federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District of Miami on September 10 alleging the New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown raped and sexually assaulted his former college classmate and personal trainer.

I have no idea if these crimes occurred, and I’m going to reserve my judgment until further information is released. These are serious allegations and should be investigated thoroughly without prejudice or bias… at least that’s how I thought this process worked.

Unfortunately, I made the poor decision of scrolling through Twitter comments on this subject and I was not surprised to see the amount of journalists and other public figures immediately discrediting the complainant’s suit.

Read More Here: w-z.com
 

Sacramento, CA: California lawmakers may trim repeat offenders' sentences
California lawmakers are on the verge of approving legislation to trim prison sentences for repeat nonviolent felonies. Current law adds an additional year to offenders' sentences for each previous prison or jail term.

The bill approved by the state Assembly on Thursday would remove the mandatory one-year enhancement. The bill returns to the Senate on Friday for a final vote on Assembly amendments that excluded certain sex crimes from the measure, as lawmakers wrap up their work for the year.

Supporters said the longer sentences clog prisons and jails, are costly to taxpayers, and do little to deter criminals. Corrections officials say about 10,000 inmates currently have the one-year bumps in their sentences, while legislative analysts estimate that the change could save tens of millions of dollars a year in lower prison and jail costs. "This enhancement is disproportionately used against persons of color and those that are low income," said Democratic Assemblyman Ash Kalra of San Jose, who carried the bill in the Assembly. "It is unnecessary and ineffective."  sfgate.com

Juul Debates Pushing Back on E-Cigarette Ban
Juul Labs Inc. is debating internally whether to embrace or push back on part of the Trump administration’s plan to pull most e-cigarettes from the market, according to people familiar with the matter.

The policy - affecting sweet and fruity vaping products along with mint and menthol - would be a crippling hit to the startup, which generates more than 80% of its sales from flavors that would be banned. But Juul insiders agree that the move could help curb underage vaping and avert an even bigger threat to the market-leading e-cigarette maker: the possibility that the Food and Drug Administration could take Juul off the market altogether. wsj.com

Ensuring Duty of Care for Traveling Employees
Traveling for executives and employees is more challenging than ever with an evolving threat landscape.

According to a study by the GBTA Foundation, three in ten (29 percent) travel managers report they do not know how long it would take to locate affected employees in a crisis. Overall, one-half (50 percent) of travel managers say, in the event of an emergency, they can locate all of their employees in the affected area within two hours or less. Additionally, three in five (60 percent) travel managers rely on travelers to reach out if they need help and have not booked through proper channels.

"Research reveals significant gaps in educating travelers about resources available to them and the existence of protocols should the unforeseen happen," says Kate Vasiloff, GBTA Foundation Director of Research. "Failing to establish and communicate safety measures leaves travelers and organizations vulnerable. As both security threats and technology evolve, even the most robust protocols that once served companies well may now have weaknesses requiring immediate attention and modification."

Tracking employee and executive travel and ensuring their safety is one of the most important tasks for enterprise security executives. Enterprise security must always take into account where an executive will travel, the activities they will undertake and the individual risk profile, which will help to develop an overall risk assessment for the trip and any threat mitigation strategies that should be followed. securitymagazine.com

August retail sales grew 4.1 percent over last year,
but new tariffs present 'downside risk'
Retail sales were up 0.4 percent in August seasonally adjusted from July and up 4.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year, the National Retail Federation said today. The numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

“While consumer attitudes about the economy indicate some retreating optimism, the bottom line is that consumer spending remained resilient in August and continued to be a key contributor to U.S. economic growth,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Trends remain strong, but August grew somewhat slower than July, which could reflect consumers’ concerns about the unpredictability of trade policy. It is too early to assess the impact of the new tariffs that took effect at the beginning of this month, but they do present downside risks to household spending.”

New 15 percent tariffs on a wide range of consumer goods from China took effect September 1 and are scheduled to be expanded to additional goods on December 15, covering a total of about $300 billion in imports. In addition, 25 percent tariffs already in effect on $250 billion worth of imports are set to increase to 30 percent on October 15. nrf.com

Dollar Tree CEO on Mitigating Tariffs:
"We Play Hardball"
He said the discount retailer has worked with vendors to adjust its approach to shipping products from China. Dollar Tree negotiated prices, canceled orders and diversified vendors in order to mitigate costs, Philbin said.

In a one-on-one with Jim Cramer on "Mad Money" he said "We play hardball, but I would say we've always been fair."  cnbc.com

Trio of Industry Groups Unite to Advocate for Revamped NAFTA
The Security Industry Association (SIA), the Latin American Security Association (ALAS) and the Canadian Security Association (CANASA) have aligned to press the U.S. Congress to promptly approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which leaders from the U.S., Mexico and Canada signed in November, must be ratified by lawmakers in all three countries. Mexican and Canadian lawmakers have already done so. securitysales.com

Old Navy plans to open 800 new stores as it prepares to split from Gap
In a record year of store closings, Old Navy announced plans to open 800 new locations as part of its upcoming split from parent company the Gap. Company officials discussed the plans Thursday during a Gap Investor Day event in New York.

"We’ll almost double our fleet to 2,000 stores in North America, predominantly in under-served small markets,” Old Navy CEO Sonia Syngal said.

The first Old Navy store opened in 1994 in Colma, California, and as of February, the 25-year-old company had about 1,140 stores. Company leaders said the plan was to open up around 75 stores a year, "focused on off-mall locations."

Gap Inc. officials announced in February that they planned to spin off Old Navy into its own public company in 2020. At the time, officials also said they planned to close around 200 Gap stores over the next three years. Along with Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta would remain in Gap Inc. usatoday.com

Target, UPS, Amazon and Kohl’s are offering better pay and these perks to attract over 230,000 seasonal workers
We’ve barely scratched the surface of September, yet behind the scenes at corporate headquarters, retailers are already preparing for the holiday shopping season.

This week, Target and UPS made formal announcements of their holiday hiring plans, and they amount to over 230,000 seasonal workers between the two companies.

Amazon, on the heels of its Career Day announcement that the company will hire over 30,000 permanent staffers, also said it plans to recruit tens of thousands of seasonal workers for the holidays. Kohl’s opened up seasonal applications in July but still has thousands of open gigs across stores and distribution centers, with more to come.

Here’s a rundown of what types of roles are up for grabs, plus how companies are upping the ante with better pay and perks to attract workers in a tight labor market: cnbc.com

LPRC IMPACT 2019 Learning Lab Will Explore
Stand-Alone vs. System-Integrated PVMs
As retailers are incorporating self-checkout into more of their stores, they are also seeking ways to reduce theft and deter offenders who see it as an easy target. In this study, the LPRC Research Team compared the use and effectiveness of stand-alone versus system-integrated PVMs. First, a survey was sent to two major retailers to better understand the current issue. Next, interviews were conducted with 50 offenders to gauge their reactions to both types of monitors. Which PVM is more effective? Join Sam Auer (LPRC) and Mike Lamb (Kroger) in this learning lab, sponsored by Clinton Electronics, at LPRC’s annual conference, IMPACT 2019, happening September 30 to October 2, to find out! Register today!