Mass Merchant

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot Inc. on Tuesday reported a first-quarter net profit of $45 million, compared with a loss of $109 million in the year-ago period. Its results met analysts’ expectations.

The office supply retailer said excluding non-recurring items, including costs associated with the planned acquisition of Office Depot by Staples Inc. adjusted earnings per share were 13 cents, matching the FactSet consensus.

Garden Ridge, Texas -- Décor superstore retailer At Home said that Former PetSmart CEO and chairman Phil Francis has been selected as an independent member of the board of directors of décor superstore retailer At Home. The retailer has been acquiring senior leadership talent with public company experience which has some industry experts suggesting a stock offering could be in the company’s future.

True Value Company has selected a specialty retail veteran as its next chief financial officer.

Toronto - Canadian Tire Corp. is opening its new “'Digital Garage” in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, in Canada's “Silicon Valley North.” The new facility is the second digital innovation lab for Canadian Tire, situated near its Communitech lab, and will allow the company's top digital innovators to develop new in-store and online technologies at a faster pace.

The At Home chain of home décor superstores continues to acquire senior leadership talent with public company experience which suggest a public stock offering could be in the company’s future.

The most recent addition involves the appointment of former PetSmart CEO and Chairman Phil Francis. who has selected as an independent member of the At Home board of directors.

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corp. is reportedly off to a litigious start in the first half of 2015. According to the Wall Street Journal, Costco is suing Johnson & Johnson’s Vision Care division for allegedly fixing prices on contact lenses.

Operational changes keep coming at Walmart with another round of senior executive moves – and several retirements – announced late Friday that involve some familiar leaders in new roles focused on supercenters, small format and the rollout of grocery home shopping.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is shuffling a number of key executives and also tinkering with its organizational structure. Veteran Wal-Mart operator Mike Moore, who currently serves as executive VP of the 613-unit Neighborhood Market division, will transition to a new executive VP role with oversight of Wal-Mart’s much larger 3,421-unit supercenter operation in the U.S.

Assuming Moore’s previous position is Wal-Mart West executive VP Julie Murphy.