News

Amazon.com continued to lose money during its third quarter, although considerably less than a year ago, as its sales advanced 24% to more than $17 billion.

After the market closed on Thursday, Amazon reported a net loss of $41 million, or nine cents a share, during the quarter ended September 30, versus a net loss the prior year of $274 million, or 60 cents a share. The reduced loss coupled with sales of $17. 1 billion which exceeded analysts’ estimate of $16.8 billion caused shares to surge in after hours trading.

Mountain View, Calif. – Coupons.com Inc. has hired Mir Aamir, former president of loyalty and digital technologies at Safeway Inc., as the company’s COO and CFO. Aamir brings more than 18 years of finance, strategy and operating experience, primarily in the retail CPG industries.

Target is getting ready for the holidays with a big multichannel push that includes expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 — a service that is now available in about half of the chain’s locations.

Target will run an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that promotes deals during Cyber Monday and the rest of Cyber week.

Brentwood, Tenn. – Tractor Supply Company reported that net income for the third quarter was $64.8 million, up almost 30% from net income of $50 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company also announced the opening of its first store in Wyoming, as it continues to expand into the Western region of the country

The Walmart Foundation gave $2.5 million to Share Our Strength to help the hunger relief organization educate people about eating healthy on a budget.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop shrunk its net loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 to $1.4 million from $4.3 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company announced that it expects to close an additional 10 to 25 stores in fiscal 2013 and 2014 and, along with opportunistic store openings, expects to reach a store count of approximately 250 stores in North America.

Consolidated net retail sales were $83.6 million while operating 31 fewer stores compared to $84.3 million in the fiscal 2012 third quarter, a decrease of 0.9%.

Coupons.com has appointed former Safeway executive Mir Aamir as the company’s CFO and COO.

Less than two weeks after announcing plans to reduce overall international capital expenditures, top Walmart executives were telling a different story in China this week.

At a press event in Beijing, Walmart CEO Mike Duke and Walmart China CEO Greg Foran said the company planned to opening as many as 110 new facilities during the next three years including stores in China’s smaller cities while also closing up to 9% of its 397 units and remodeling 165 stores.