Mass Merchant

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said Thursday that the president of Target.com, Steve Eastman, has departed the company to pursue other opportunities.

The retailer said the decision is unrelated to the performance of its online business. However, the crash of its website last month during the launch of its exclusive Missoni collection led to much criticism.

Eastman is the second major executive to leave Target this month.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway reported net income of $130.2 million (38 cents per diluted share) for the third quarter of 2011 compared with $122.8 million (33 cents per diluted share) for the third quarter of 2010.

Total sales were $10.1 billion in the third quarter of 2011 compared with $9.4 billion in the third quarter of 2010, due primarily to higher fuel sales, a 1.5% increase in identical-store sales (excluding fuel) and a higher Canadian exchange rate.

Promotions during September saw mixed outcome with some retailers increasing the number of pages and inserts, while the rest decreased the volume of promotions. The contrasting promotional strategies among the retailers led to the overall change being minimal. 

Like August, the largest decrease was Lowes, which saw a 61% drop in number of number of pages per market and 54% decline in inserts per market. This was a result of Lowes not having promotions in the second and third week of both August and September.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that has partnered with FishWish to help reach its goal selling only sustainable and traceable seafood in its stores by 2015. 

There will be no escaping the long arm of Walmart’s marketing efforts this holiday season as the retail reminds shoppers it has the lowest prices on the broadest assortment of merchandise. Chief merchandising office Duncan Mac Naughton is making sure of that, and on Wednesday he outlined all of the ways the company plans to communicate with shoppers in the months ahead.

Saving people money so they can live better is Walmart’s mission globally, now the company just has to convince shoppers worldwide that shopping at stores that offer an every day low price value proposition is the key to their prosperity.

Boston -- Global private equity firm Advent International announced that Thomas Ryan, former chairman and CEO of CVS Caremark Corp., has joined the firm’s Operating Partner Program. He will advise and work closely with Advent’s investment professionals to identify attractive opportunities and generate post-investment value at retail and healthcare companies globally.

Ryan, who joined CVS Caremark in 1974 as a pharmacist, was appointed chief executive in 1994.

Portland, Ore. -- Ikea officially plugged-in two Blink Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at its Portland, Ore., store as part of its partnership with ECOtality, a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies.

The initiative is the first such project for Ikea in the United States. Similar installations aa planned at eight other Ikea stores in the Western United States.

Albany, Ore. -- Atlanta-based Jones Lang LaSalle said Tuesday it has been named as the property and leasing manager for Heritage Mall, a 407,354-sq.-ft. regional shopping center located in Albany, Ore.

Northbrook, Ill. -- StreetMac Asset Managers announced that an affiliate has purchased the Brazos Mall in Lake Jackson, Texas, and the Shawnee Mall in Shawnee, Okla., through a joint venture with an affiliate of Stamford, Conn.-based Five Mile Capital Partners. The seller was Lightstone Properties.

The two malls have a combined 1.14 million sq. ft. of leasable retail space. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisitions represent StreetMac’s inaugural purchases of retail malls in markets nationwide.