Retail

Beijing -- Local Chinese newspaper the People’s Daily reported Thursday that, just two days after re-opening all 13 stores in Chongqing following a forced two-week closure for mislabeling regular pork as organic, the retailer has been called out for selling expired coffee in one of its Chongqing stores.

Wal-Mart’s Beijing-based spokeswoman Christina Lee said the retailer is currently investigating the case.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax's sales were down for the third quarter, but the company managed to deliver higher net income growth during a period of executive transitions and a tough economy.

OfficeMax announced that total sales were $1.8 billion in the third quarter of 2011, a decrease of 2.1% from the third quarter of 2010.  For the third quarter of 2011, OfficeMax reported net income of $21.5 million, or 25 cents per diluted share, compared with $20 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2010.  

New York City -- Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Group said Wednesday it has a arranged a long-term lease for The Harlem Wine Gallery at 752 Saint Nicholas Avenue, between 147th and 148th Streets in New York City.

The transaction is the second wine and spirit shop that the team has arranged on the corridor in recent months, following Unity Wines & Spirits at 704 Saint Nicholas Avenue.
 
 

Austin, Texas -- Golfsmith International Holdings reported Thursday a profit of $1.3 million for the quarter ended Oct. 1, compared with a loss of $1.1 million a year earlier.

Net revenues increased 8.3 % to $101 million, from $93.3 million. Same-store sales rose 3.4%.
 

Springfield, Mo. -- O’Reilly Automotive reported Thursday that net income for the third quarter rose 27% to $148 million, compared with $117 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 8% to $1.54 billion from $1.43 billion. Same-store sales rose 4.8%.

During the quarter, the company opened 50 new stores, bringing its store count to 3,707 in 39 states.
 

New York City -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Panera Bread’s 35 Maryland locations are on EPA's list of top green power purchasers among retailers.
 
The company’s green power purchase of more than 11 million kilowatt hours for its 35 Maryland bakery-cafes is equivalent to avoiding the yearly carbon dioxide emissions of nearly 1,400 passenger vehicles or from more than 800 average American homes’ electricity use.

Dallas -- Neiman Marcus announced Thursday that it had entered into agreements with Visa and MasterCard to begin, effective Nov. 1, accepting MasterCard and Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards at all 41 Neiman Marcus stores.

The luxury retailer had long been criticized for accepting only its private-label credit cards, American Express and cash.

"We listened to our customers and heard that they wanted more flexibility in their payment choices," said Karen Katz, president and CEO, Neiman Marcus.
 

The fashion and retail blogospheres went into overdrive with complaints about how Target botched the launch of its latest and exclusive limited time collection, Missoni for Target. And shoppers across the nation took to Facebook, Twitter and other sites to share their frustrations. The folks who seemed to be the most put-out were those who ordered goods online.  After experiencing long delays and going through any number of hurdles before they were even able to place an order, many are now being told that their orders would be delayed or, even worse, canceled.