Distribution

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot is expanding into the Caribbean as part of its franchise agreement with Benmore International. The company has opened a store in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It plans to open three additional locations in the Dominican Republic in 2012.

In addition to its operations in various Central American countries and Puerto Rico, Office Depot plans to further expand its business throughout the Caribbean.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe's pledged $1 million to disaster relief and rebuilding efforts in communities affected by Hurricane Irene.

“This has been a record-setting year for disasters across the country, and Lowe’s will continue to provide funding, supplies and volunteers whenever possible," said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO.

Seattle -- Seattle's Best Coffee, which is owned by Starbucks, has opened 12 stores since April, bringing it to almost 100 locations in the United States and Canada. The expansion reflects the chain’s strategy to build upon the brand’s broad distribution network of franchised locations, company-operated stores, relationships with restaurant chains, and foodservice locations.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy is slated to open its first six stores in the Sacramento region in 2012.

The stores will include three in Sacramento, one in Lincoln, one in Elk Grove and one in Folsom. The chain, which has opened 13 stores in northern California this year, opened a store in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco last week.

New York City -- Jesta I.S., a supplier of enterprise business solutions for retailers, manufacturers and distributors in the apparel, footwear and specialty industries worldwide, announced Wednesday that Joseph-Beth Booksellers has selected Jesta I.S. solutions to power its business operations.

Joseph-Beth Booksellers will implement the Jesta I.S. Vision Store, Vision Merchandising, Vision Planning, and Vision E-DOM, enabling the integration of all its information in a single solution.

London -- Grocery giant Tesco PLC said Wednesday it is pulling out of Japan, which means shuttering 129 small, leasehold-owned stores in the Greater Tokyo area, which employ 4,000 people. The country is the smallest of Tesco’s international retail businesses, and the weakest for sales growth in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

“Having made considerable efforts in Japan, we have concluded that we cannot build a sufficiently scalable business,” said Philip Clarke, CEO.

South Deerfield, Mass. -- The Yankee Candle Co. has opened its first company-owned retail stores in Canada. Yankee Candle will open five stores in the greater Toronto area before Sept. 16. The first three locations in Pickering, St. Catharine's and Hamilton, Ontario, are now open. In the coming weeks, the company will open stores in Barre and Kitchener, Ontario.

Phoenix -- Cole Real Estate Investments said Monday that it has acquired a portfolio of 11 PetSmart retail properties for $74 million.

The approximately 300,000-sq.-ft. triple-net leased portfolio is located in primary markets in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Texas. The 11 individual retail properties are leased to PetSmart, under one master lease, with an original 20-year lease term and approximately 10 years remaining, plus three automatic renewals for up to a total of 20 additional years.