Supply Chain & Merchandising

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Strong results in consumable categories, a little inflation and some Hurricane Irene related sales fueled an 11.5% same-store sales increase and led to a strong overall third-quarter financial performance at Tractor Supply Company.

Dollar stores get a lot of the credit for negatively impacting Walmart’s U.S. sales the past few years and it’s no wonder. The big three – Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree – have grown rapidly and collectively operate more than 20,000 conveniently located units that offer sharp prices on an expanding assortment of food and consumables.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot announced that it has launched a new Android app designed specifically for Office Depot business account customers. The Office Depot Business Solutions mobile application is now available for free download on the Android Market.

Former Walmart president and CEO Lee Scott was a keynote speaker earlier this week at the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s 74th annual convention and trade show at Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Promotional materials billed his appearance as an exciting opportunity to hear about the leadership, innovation and business strategies that led Walmart to be such a successful retailer and noted that Scott would also participate in a candid question and answer forum where distributors would have the opportunity to ask some tough questions.

NEW YORK — Barnes & Noble announced that it has expanded BN.com Marketplace, adding over one million new products to the catalog. The company also announced new partnerships with Wayfair.com, Right Start, UnbeatableSale.com Inc., School Specialty Inc., Abe’s of Maine, Delivery Agent and more. By expanding its third-party marketplace, which already supports more than 10,000 retailers in the books and media categories, Barnes & Noble now offers customers a wider product selection in time for the holiday shopping season, the company reported.

PHILADELPHIA — Shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors cost the retail industry $41.7 billion in the United States in 2011, representing 1.6% in sales, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer released Tuesday by Checkpoint Systems. Of that, $18.4 billion was attributed to employee theft, $14.9 billion to shoplifters, $6.6 billion to internal error and $1.8 billion to suppliers.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — SB Capital Group, a Schottenstein affiliate, said Monday it has acquired 15 JCPenney Outlet Stores from JCPenney Co., and will rebrand the units as JC’s 5 Star Outlet.

According to SB Capital, the stores will operate for up to a 21-month transitional period as JCPenney Outlet Stores, as the stores are converted to JC's 5 Star Outlet. J.C. Penney will continue to supply the stores with overstocks and end-of-season merchandise, and all existing store staffs and management have been retained.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Supervalu reduced it full-year profit forecast Wednesday morning, even though the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter sales and profits as a result of strategies president and CEO Craig Herkert said are yielding results.