Supply Chain & Merchandising

By Steve Williams,[email protected]

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots on Friday posted a lower-than expected quarterly profit, and the company cut its outlook for the crucial holiday quarter, in the face of strong competition and aggressive promotions from rivals.

The chain said profit for the quarter ended Oct. 30 fell 42% to $17.7 million, from $30.3 million a year earlier, when the company's earnings included a 10-cents-a-share benefit from real estate transactions. Net sales in the latest quarter rose 2% to $1.06 billion as same-store sales rose 0.7%.

Orange County, Calif. -- The District at Tustin Legacy, a 1 million-sq.-ft. lifestyle and entertainment center located in Orange County, Calif., has been awarded the 2010 CalRecycle Waste Reduction Award for being a regional leader in recycling and waste reduction. 

New York City -- Robert K. Futterman & Associates said it has completed a 7,800-sq.-ft. retail lease with Nadeau at 57 East 11th St. in New York City’s Greenwich Village.

The furniture retailer will occupy a combined 4,300 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 3,500 sq. ft. in the basement and is scheduled to open in first quarter 2011. This will be the first New York City location for the brand.

Nadeau is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., and currently has 15 locations nationwide.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores has filed suit against CVS Caremark Corp. to prevent CVS from hiring former Wal-Mart executive Hank Mullany, according to a Friday report by Bloomberg.

CVS’s hiring of Mullany, former president of Wal-Mart’s northern U.S. division, would violate a noncompete agreement, Wal-Mart said in the complaint filed Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court.

According to Wal-Mart’s complaint, CVS has indicated that it intends to hire Mullany without regard to the agreement.

New York City -- Walgreens on Friday reported that its same-store sales rose 3.2% in November. The drugstore operator’s total sales rose 8.6% to $5.83 billion. (Duane Reade stores, acquired in April 2010, contributed 2.8% points to the total sales increase for the month. But those stores are not included in the same-store sales report.)

Meanwhile, Rite Aid Corp. reported that its November same-store sales fell 1.3% due to the introduction of new generic drugs and a decline in prescriptions resulting partly from a milder flu season.