OfficeMax

CHICAGO — OfficeMax has appointed EVP, CFO and CAO Bruce Besanko, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, to the USO of Illinois’ board of directors. Besanko will join the USO's finance committee and serve a three-year term.

CHICAGO — OfficeMax EVP and president of OfficeMax Workplace John Kenning has been appointed to the board of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

The appointment comes just seven months after Kenning joined OfficeMax to lead the retailer’s contract division that was renamed OfficeMax Marketplace earlier this month.

New York -- For the second year in a row, Nordstrom topped the list of retail companies that keep their employees happiest, followed by Macy’s and OfficeMax, according to an annual survey by CareerBliss. The ranking takes into account employee reviews of their employer based on work-life balance, senior management compensation, benefits and job security.

Forty participants in the annual OfficeMax ElfYourself campaign are due to join in next week’s McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago.

The elves will escort a candy train float along the parade route expected to be attended by 500,000 people and millions of television viewers. While on the parade route, the elves will distribute winter survival kits featuring cold-weather essentials such as lip balm, hand warmers and hot chocolate mix, and also invite spectators to enjoy OfficeMax's online and in-store deals this holiday season.

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.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax today announced it is extending support to the thousands of people still without electricity by providing free in-store charging stations, fax, scan and email services to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy stay connected and get back to business. The retailer also partnered with nonprofit AdoptAClassroom.org to launch the Hurricane Relief for Teachers (HuRT) program to help restore damaged classrooms along the east coast.

Black Friday can be so limiting which is why OfficeMax is expanding a program it offered last year involving special deal pricing every Friday until mid December.

CHICAGO — OfficeMax has named Kim Feil as EVP and chief marketing and strategy officer, effective Nov. 12. Feil will report to Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax, and will have accountability for all aspects of marketing across the enterprise, with particular emphasis on brand management and evolution of the company's traditional marketing vehicles to new media including digital and social.

Third quarter sales at OfficeMax declined 1.7% to $1.74 billion and same store sales dropped 2.1% due to weak demand for office products.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax Inc. reported Tuesday that net income for the third quarter jumped to $433.5 million from $22 million in the same period last year, as the office supply retailer eliminated non-recourse debt guaranteed by Lehman Bros. Holdings from its books.

Revenue dipped 1.7% to $1.74 billion, missing Wall Street’s expected $1.87 billion. Same-store sales fell 2.1%.