Corporate Governance

INDIANAPOLIS — Hhgregg's first quarter loss widened to $5.7 million, or 16 cents per diluted share, from a loss of $0.8 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, for the comparable prior year period, thanks to same-store sales decline of 5.1% and increased expenses.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax reported net income of $10.7 million for the second quarter, besting Wall Street predictions and representing a strong turnaround from last year’s $3 million loss stemming from store closures and severance expenses.
 
Revenue for the quarter slipped 2.7% to $1.6 billion, missing analysts’ forecasted $1.64 billion in revenue. The office supply retailer said it will reinstate its quarterly common stock dividend, which it suspended more than three years ago.

NEW YORK — Avery Dennison's office and consumer products division and the UPS Store have signed on as the inaugural sponsors of  Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's"American Made," a multimedia celebration of American artists, artisans and entrepreneurs. The program will celebrate 10 rising stars from a range of lifestyle arenas in a special feature in the November issue of Martha Stewart Living.

CHICAGO — Claire's Stores announced that Jay Friedman, president of Claire's Stores North America, has resigned effective immediately. Claire's has commenced a search with the executive recruiting firm of Spencer Stuart to fill the open position.  Until a replacement is appointed, James Fielding, Claire's CEO, will assume Mr. Friedman's duties.

The addition of retired KPMG International chairman Timothy Flynn to the Walmart board gives the retailer some compliance expertise amid ongoing investigations into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

RESTON, Va. — Beauty brand L'Oréal USA is leveraging Clarabridge, a provider of sentiment and text analytics for customer experience management, to monitor what is being said in real time about its 27 brands across social media outlets, including website reviews, product reviews, blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

The move will enable L'Oréal USA to automatically route consumer insight to the right people and more effectively engage with its consumers.

No company gave more money and products to charity in 2011 than Walmart, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking.

The publication put Walmart at the top of its list of the 10 most charitable companies, indicating that the company donated $342 million in cash and $616 million in products last year. That is the equivalent of 4.1% of the company’s 2010 pretax profits.

Walmart and mom-and-pop retailers are usually at odds with one another, but the issue of credit card swipe fees has Walmart sharing common ground with independent pharmacists.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), an organization representing 23,000 independent pharmacies, announced this week that it was rejecting a proposed settlement in the antitrust lawsuit involving Visa, MasterCard and several big name banks.

Online shopper engagement firm Jingit named former Walmart head merchant John Fleming to their board of advisors this week and offered a view of his career and accomplishments at Walmart that isn’t likely to jive with the recollection of suppliers.

“John pioneered countless initiatives throughout his stellar career at Walmart that took that brand to new heights in the market,” Jingit co-founder Joe Rogness said of Fleming.

Bloomberg reports this week that Walmart is becoming more sophisticated in its dealings with the government, and the company is employing an interesting tactic to gain political insights.

Earlier this week, 10 Walmart moms from the Denver area were assembled for the company's latest focus group, according to the Bloomberg report, and they were asked about their top issues and impressions of presidential candidates.