Supply Chain & Merchandising

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.

West Bridgewater, Mass. -- Supervalu said Monday it has cut about 700 store-level positions at the company’s Shaw's and Star Market stores in New England.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot Inc. reported Tuesday a loss of $61.9 million for the third quarter, compared with net income of $100.9 million in the same period last year. Results still edged analysts’ expectations.

Revenue dropped 5.1% to $2.69 billion, missing Wall Street’s expected $2.89 billion revenue mark.

Revenue for the office supply chain has fallen for the past three quarters.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp. reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 jumped 16% to $1.01 billion, compared with $868 million in the year-ago period. Results were boosted by a 13.3% increase in revenue to $30.2 billion, which edged Wall Street’s forecast of $30.09 billion in revenue.

Drugstore revenue rose 5.5% to $15.5 billion, and same-store sales climbed 4.3%, helped by the influx of Walgreens customer who switched to CVS during the split between Walgreen Co and Express Scripts Holding Co.

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%.

North Bergen, N.J. -- Vitamin Shoppe Inc. reported Tuesday that net income for the third quarter leaped 36.8% to $16.3 million, from $11.9 million last year.

Revenue rose 14.4% to $239 million, missing Wall Street’s expectations of $241.8 million in revenue. Same-store sales surged 9.6%, marking the company’s 28th consecutive quarter of positive comps.

For the current year, Vitamin Shoppe said it expects to open 52 new stores and, for fiscal 2013, the preliminary forecast is to open 57 new stores.

UNION BEACH, N.J. — In partnership with the American Red Cross, beginning Nov. 6, the P&G Mobile Relief Center will be stationed in Union Beach, N.J., to provide showers, personal care kits, household products — including Bounty, Charmin, Tide and Dawn — and baby products, including Pampers diapers and wipes, to victims of Hurricane Sandy, Procter & Gamble announced Monday. This service will be free to all victims, responders and their families.