News

Boca Raton, Fla. -- In a letter to Office Depot Inc., activist investor Starboard Value asked the office supply retailer to immediately revoke its poison pill provision on the grounds that it would limit the influence of shareholders.

Starboard, Office Depot’s largest shareholder with a 14.8% stake, wrote that it believes “the implementation of the poison pill, with a threshold just above our current ownership, is designed specifically to entrench the current board.”

Broad-based strength at PetSmart enabled the nation’s leading pet specialty retailer to produce a third quarter same store sales increase of 6.5% and grow profits by 50%.

The company said total sales for the period ended October 28 increased 9% to $1.6 billion, net income increased 46% to $82 million and earnings per share increased 50% to 75 cents, well ahead of the 63 cents analysts were expecting. PetSmart ended the quarter with 1,269 stores.

Walmart maintained an optimistic outlook for the holiday season despite 1.5% third quarter comp increase that reflected a modest deceleration in sales momentum seen earlier this year.

A 2.9% third quarter same store sales increase and the sale of its credit card business pushed Target’s third quarter profit up 17.6% to 96 cents a share.

Total sales increased 3.4% to $16.6 billion in third quarter due to the 2.9% comp increase and the benefit of a net increase of 18 stores compared to the prior year. Target ended the period with 1,781 stores and was up against a challenging prior year comparison when comps advanced 4.3%.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar is positioning itself as a one-stop shop for families this holiday season.

The company plans to have in stock hundreds of toys and gifts priced at $10 or less at its more than 7,000 nationwide locations. The single price point strategy is designed to appeal to the large segment of shoppers hard-hit by the economy and who need stretch their holiday budgets.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — IKEA intends to submit plans to the City of Burbank, California, for a new, larger location to replace its current one in the Los Angeles area.

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the third quarter jumped 38% to $4.3 million, from $3.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue edged up 2% to $179.4 million from $175.8 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $182.9 million in revenue.

Same-store sales rose a slight 0.2%.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Kellogg plans to debut new snacks, including cereal bars, crackers, crisps and cookies, in 2013.

"We have such a strong line-up of snack brands, including Pringles, Cheez-it, Special K, Keebler and Nutri-Grain," said Alan Gravely, SVP of marketing and innovation for Kellogg Snacks. "So we are building off these brands with new products that reflect our deep understanding of people's evolving taste preferences and nutrition needs."

STAMFORD, Conn. — Nestle Waters North America has named Tim Brown as its new president and CEO. Brown replaces current Nestle Waters North America president and CEO Kim Jeffery, who plans to assume a non-executive chairman position effective Feb. 1, 2013.

Walmart had as much to say about an ongoing and expanding investigation into alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in its third quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission as it did about its actual financial results.