Consumer Affairs & Relations

Portland, Ore. -- The city council of Portland, Ore., voted to expand the city's one-year old plastic bag ban, voting 5-0 to phase out plastic checkout bags at an estimated 5,000 restaurants and retailers.

The ban will impact retailers larger than 10,000 -sq.-ft. on March 1, 2013, and the remaining retailers on October 1, 2013. Portland's 2011 rule affected fewer than 200 businesses.

Retailers will still be able to provide plastic bags for bulk items, produce, meats, dry cleaning and prescription drugs.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported Thursday net income of $3.64 billion for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from $3.34 billion in the year-ago period.

Sales rose 3.4% to $113.20 billion, as U.S. sales beat internal expectations but overall missed Wall Street’s expected $114.96 in revenue.

Wal-Mart U.S. saw same-store sales rise 1.5%, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth after nine straight quarterly declines. At Sam’s Club, same-store sales rose 2.7%, excluding fuel.

A 2.9% third quarter same store sales increase and the sale of its credit card business pushed Target’s third quarter profit up 17.6% to 96 cents a share.

Total sales increased 3.4% to $16.6 billion in third quarter due to the 2.9% comp increase and the benefit of a net increase of 18 stores compared to the prior year. Target ended the period with 1,781 stores and was up against a challenging prior year comparison when comps advanced 4.3%.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Thursday net income of $637 million for the third quarter, compared with $555 million in the prior-year period and beating Wall Street expectations.
 
The retailer previously reported that sales rose 3.4% to $16.60 billion in the quarter, and same-store sales climbed 2.9%.

Target is forecasting a fourth-quarter earnings range that at the high-end tops estimates.

STAMFORD, Conn. — Nestle Waters North America has named Tim Brown as its new president and CEO. Brown replaces current Nestle Waters North America president and CEO Kim Jeffery, who plans to assume a non-executive chairman position effective Feb. 1, 2013.

Conshohocken, Pa. – Ikea announced it is submitting plans to the City of Burbank, Calif., for a new and larger store to replace its current location among the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Los Angeles area. The application will mark the beginning of the governmental review process for this proposed relocation.

A new relationship with Citi Retail Services gives OfficeMax another benefit to tout when serving small business customers.

The retailer worked with Citi to launch the new store-branded credit card tied to the OfficeMax MaxPerk Rewards program which allows customers to receive a $25 reward for every $500 spent on qualified purchases. In addition, the no-annual fee product provides special financing offers, flexible payment options a dedicated line of credit for business expenses and detailed tracking of purchases.