Home Depot

San Francisco – Pinterest, the social sharing network that many retailers use to promote products, is allowing users to share more information with their pins. Pins may now include data such as pricing, availability and where to buy products, recipe information and detailed information about movies.

So far, retailers including Home Depot, Anthropologie, eBay, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Wal-Mart are partnering with Pinterest to make more product information available on pins originating from their e-commerce sites.

ST. LOUIS — Aisle411, a mobile retail navigation service, has expanded its mobile shopping and searchable store maps smartphone app’s e-footprint. Consumers can now use the app at more than 12,000 retail stores nationwide. 

One hundred and forty one billion dollars. That's the estimated brand value of Walmart, according to Interbrand's "Best Global Brands" report. The annual study ranks the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands, along with the top store brands in countries around the world.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — The timing of the New Year and Easter holidays negatively affected Office Depot’s first quarter sales which declined 5% to $2.7 billion and led to a $17 million loss compared to a profit of $41 million in the first quarter of 2012. 

NEW YORK — Investment firm Starboard Value, Office Depot’s largest stockholder with a 14.8% stake, revealed Monday it has delivered a letter to the office supply retailer’s board of directors, expressing “strong disappointment at the board's failure to work constructively with Starboard to reconstitute the board.”

In March, Starboard nominated six candidates, including former Home Depot chief Robert Nardelli, to Office Depot’s board in an effort to strengthen the company’s direction.

New York -- Investment firm Starboard Value, Office Depot’s largest stockholder with a 14.8% stake, revealed Monday it has delivered a letter to the office supply retailer’s board of directors, expressing “strong disappointment at the board's failure to work constructively with Starboard to reconstitute the board.”

In March, Starboard nominated six candidates, including former Home Depot chief Robert Nardelli – to Office Depot’s board in an effort to strengthen the company’s direction.

Chicago -- Information Resources (IRI), the exclusive provider of Costco point-of-sale and inventory information to the manufacturer community, and Costco Wholesale announced several enhancements to their Costco Collaborative Retail Exchange (CRX) program, a single, global solution for category, POS and supply chain tracking at Costco, and the launch of Costco CRX Mexico.

Chicago -- True Value Hardware said Tuesday that its president and CEO Lyle Heidemann will retire from the company after eight years at the helm, effective May 31.

The hardware cooperative has named John Hartmann to succeed Heidemann as president and CEO. Hartmann previously served as CEO of New Zealand hardware cooperative Mitre 10. He also spent nearly a decade at Home Depot and HD Supply in a variety of roles, finishing his tenure as CO of the electrical and plumbing/HVAC divisions.