Discount Store

Seattle -- Nordstrom reported third-quarter net earnings of $146 million, up 15% from $127 million for the same quarter last year. Its results were slightly below analysts’ expectations.

The company said that its third quarter same-store sales, which reflected a timing shift that moved a week of the company’s important Anniversary Sale event into August this year, increased 10.7%. Top-performing merchandise categories included men’s shoes, men’s apparel and kids’ apparel.

New York -- Saks Inc.’s Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th announced that it plans to open its doors in Livermore, Calif., on Nov. 8.

The new 28,132-sq.-ft. store is located in Paragon Outlets, a new outlet facility located 36 miles east of the heart of San Francisco, which will open in conjunction with Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th on the same day.

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.

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.

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:

Seattle -- Nordstrom said it plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in Birmingham, Ala. This will be the retailer's first location in the state.

The approximately 35,000-sq. ft. store is scheduled to open in spring 2013 at River Ridge Shopping Center. The center is owned and operated by DDR Corp.

New York -- Hurricane Sandy is likely to result in shipping delays and an increase in third-party carrier rates due to fuel shortages, according to Chris Merritt, VP/GM, retail supply chain solutions for Ryder.

"While most retailers should have enough inventory for their regular replenishment items, we expect to see out-of-stock situations up and down the East Coast for promotional items retailers have ordered and advertised for Black Friday," Merritt said.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is offering discounts on more than 400 toys at stores and online in anticipation of the holiday season as many customers are likely to want to keep prices down, the Midwestern mass-merchandise chain said Thursday.

The chain also plans to release a holiday gift guide that includes 18 pages of toys and an online release of its list of its top 25 toys. The toy discounts include toys in “virtually every” category, ranging from action figures to educational toys.