International Business

New York -- Office Depot and OfficeMax Inc. on Tuesday moved one step closer to becoming one company as their shareholders voted to approve the merger between the two office supply rivals.
 

Net sales at WD-40 Co. increased 7% in the third quarter, as the company's multi-purpose maintenance products showed double-digit growth.

WD-40 sales were $93.1 million in the quarter ended May 31, compared to sales of $87.0 million in the year-ago period. Net income for the third quarter was $10.3 million, up 12%.

New Orleans -- Smoothie King Franchises is targeting the Jacksonville, Fla., metro area to kick off a major expansion calling for 1,000 new franchised and corporate locations over the next five years.

With seven stores in Jacksonville, the company plans to add 10 new locations there over the next three years.

To fuel the national expansion drive, Smoothie King is offering candidates 40% off of its initial franchise fee for the first 40 agreements of 2013 — a savings of $10,000.

Madrid, Spain – Spanish apparel retailer Grupo Cortefiel is supporting growth across multiple fast-moving product categories and Springfield, Cortefiel, women’secret and Pedro el Hierro retail brands using product lifecycle management (PLM) technology from Centric Software Inc. Grupo Cortefiel will deploy the Centric PLM suite to users in its costing, design, product development and product management departments.

ROCKFORD, Mich. — Wolverine Worldwide reported record revenue and strong earnings performance for its second fiscal quarter ended June 15. The quarter included a full 12-week contribution from the company's recenty acquired Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Stride Rite and Keds brands. 

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has reached an agreement to purchase all outstanding shares of Harris Teeter Supermarkets for $49.38 per share in cash, or about $2.5 billion. Kroger will finance the transaction with debt and also assume about $100 million of debt from Harris Teeter.

Harris Teeter operates 212 stores in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Delaware, Florida, Georgia and the District of Columbia primarily in the Carolinas. The company had revenues of approximately $4.5 billion for fiscal year 2012.

New York -- Australian swimwear brand Seafolly will open its first U.S. freestanding store in October, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

The company will open a 1,800-sq.-ft. location in Fashion Island mall, in Newport Beach, Calif. Seafolly has been selling its goods at select stores in the United States for about five years. It also does an exclusive line for Nordstrom, the report said.

New York -- The co-founder of Target, Douglas Dayton, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. He was 88.

With his four brothers, Dayton took over and reshaped the Dayton Co., which was founded by their grandfather, George Draper Dayton, as Dayton’s department store in Minneapolis.