Finance & Capital Management

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax announced that V. James Marino has been elected to serve on the company's board of directors.

"We are delighted to welcome Jim to the board of OfficeMax," said Rakesh Gangwal, chairman of OfficeMax.  "He brings significant expertise, insight and years of experience as a successful business leader, and we will benefit from having his perspective on the board."

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Strong results in consumable categories, a little inflation and some Hurricane Irene related sales fueled an 11.5% same-store sales increase and led to a strong overall third-quarter financial performance at Tractor Supply Company.

San Jose, Calif. -- eBay, which reported income and revenue growth for its third quarter, is seeing increased strength in its mobile business as more customers are turning to their smartphones to shop.

eBay reported that revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 increased 32% to $3 billion, compared with the same period of 2010. The company reported third-quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $490.5 million, up from $432 million in the year-ago period.

Dollar stores get a lot of the credit for negatively impacting Walmart’s U.S. sales the past few years and it’s no wonder. The big three – Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree – have grown rapidly and collectively operate more than 20,000 conveniently located units that offer sharp prices on an expanding assortment of food and consumables.

PHILADELPHIA — Shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors cost the retail industry $41.7 billion in the United States in 2011, representing 1.6% in sales, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer released Tuesday by Checkpoint Systems. Of that, $18.4 billion was attributed to employee theft, $14.9 billion to shoplifters, $6.6 billion to internal error and $1.8 billion to suppliers.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — SB Capital Group, a Schottenstein affiliate, said Monday it has acquired 15 JCPenney Outlet Stores from JCPenney Co., and will rebrand the units as JC’s 5 Star Outlet.

According to SB Capital, the stores will operate for up to a 21-month transitional period as JCPenney Outlet Stores, as the stores are converted to JC's 5 Star Outlet. J.C. Penney will continue to supply the stores with overstocks and end-of-season merchandise, and all existing store staffs and management have been retained.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Supervalu reduced it full-year profit forecast Wednesday morning, even though the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter sales and profits as a result of strategies president and CEO Craig Herkert said are yielding results.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores announced Monday that the president of its China unit is stepping down. A company spokesman said the resignation was unrelated to a Chinese government food safety case against several Wal-Mart stores.

Ed Chan, CEO of Wal-Mart China, left for personal reasons, the company said. Scott Price, president of Walmart Asia, will fill the position in the interim.