Consumer Electronics

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif. — VeriFone Systems and Fujitsu have partnered to offer retailers sophisticated mobile retailing solutions powered by VeriFone GlobalBay and integrated with the Fujitsu GlobalSTORE solution, or as a standalone mobile point of sale.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the media thinks is the “next big thing” in our industry. It seems like everywhere I look, there’s another article about new mobile shopping initiatives and retail-related smartphone apps.

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%.

If the economy is improving someone forgot to tell Office Depot’s customers. The company reported a third quarter loss of $70 million loss on sales that declined 5% to $2.7 billion.

Atlanta -- Aaron’s said Tuesday it is opening five of its lease-to-own stores in the Midwest, south and on the East Coast.

From mid October to early November, Aaron's stores have opened in Delaware, Ohio; Ionia, Mich.; Franklin, Ky.; Indianola, Miss., and Towson, Md.

In September, the company opened its 2,000th store – located in the Bronx, N.Y.

Austin, Texas — Golfsmith International has named Sue E. Gove president and CEO.

Gove, formerly president and COO of the combined Golfsmith and Golf Town business, has also served as the chief integration officer leading the successful Golfsmith-Golf Town combination, which was finalized this past July. Marty Hanaka, the previous CEO, will serve in an advisory role through the end of this year.

New York -- Office Depot has been recognized in Newsweek magazine’s annual Green Rankings as the number one greenest large retailer in the United States for the third consecutive year. Across all industry sectors, Office Depot was ranked as America’s ninth greenest large company.

Here is Newsweek’s ranking of the 15 greenest U.S. retailers: