Supply Chain & Merchandising

New York City -- Supervalu reported a loss for its third quarter, dragged down by falling revenue and asset values, tighter margins and the cost of closing some stores. The grocer cut its full-year outlook based on the poor performance.

Supervalu, which operates Alberstons, Jewel-Osco and other supermarket chains, reported a loss of $202 million for the quarter, compared with net income of $109 million in the same quarter last year.

NEW YORK -Tiffany & Co. announced that James Quinn will retire in early 2012. Quinn joined Tiffany in 1986 and has served as president since 2003, responsible for the company’s sales outside the Americas.

Tracy, Calif. -- Retail Custom Solutions, a developer of specialty retail systems announced today that Overland Sheepskin Co. has gone live with RMS.NET V6.1 for its retail, web and catalog-based customers.

Alpharetta, Ga. -- RedPrairie, a supply chain and labor management systems provider, announced it has finalized the acquisition of SofTechnics, Columbus, Ohio, a provider of in-store software such as price and inventory management, intelligent store ordering and direct-store delivery.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Armonk, N.Y. -- The U.S. online retail sector delivered double-digit growth in December 2010 compared with the same period last year, according to analytics-based findings by IBM. Online sales were up 12%, with consumers pushing the average order value up from $171.06 to $190.42 for an increase of 11.3%.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot is buying Swedish office supply company Svanstroms Gruppen in order to expand its presence there.

Terms were not disclosed.

Office Depot first entered the Swedish market in 2004 through a strategic alliance with AGE Kontor & Data AB.

"We've been successful in this market and see continued growth and high potential in the region," said Charlie Brown, president of Office Depot's international division, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Concord, Calif. -- Beverages & More has launched a next-generation technology initiative based around NRF/ARTS (Association for Retail Technology Standards) standards coupled with cloud computing and high-performance technology and service providers that include NCR Corp., Verifone, Retail Anywhere, Trevarian, and Anametrix. The initiative (called “ItsMo!” internally) allows for rapid design, adoption and deployment of new technologies.

El Segundo, Calif. -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market on Wednesday said it will open its first stores in Northern California in March and April, with the first two scheduled to open March 2 in San Jose and Danville. Nine additional locations are scheduled to open in the area within the two-month time frame.

Fresh & Easy also said it also plans to open two stores in San Francisco early this year.