News

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Office Depot is sponsoring the 2012 Do Something Awards, which will air Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 9:00pm ET on VH1.

Hosted by "New Girl" stars Jake Johnson, Emmy-nominated Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris, the ceremony will honor and celebrate the nation’s best young world-changers who represent the pivotal “do-ers” in their field, cause or issue.

ATLANTA — Ignacio Perez Lizaur, who lead Walmart's expansion into Latin America as director general Sam's Club Mexico in 1991, has joined Newell Rubbermaid's board of directors.

Washington — The National Retail Federation, in partnership with its member companies, has launched a new initiative to address the challenges and opportunities of mobile retailing.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- ForeSee, a provider of technology-driven customer experience analytics, announced that it is working with leading multichannel retailer HSN to measure and analyze the customer experience of its mobile-optimized site and mobile apps with ForeSee's new Mobile On-Exit technology.

Seattle -- Bartell Drugs is moving its headquarters, the Seattle-based retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Bartell's, which operates 58 stores in and around Washington State’s largest city, said it would move its headquarters to the West Seattle Corporate Center in October. Its present headquarters is in Georgetown, a neighborhood south of downtown Seattle. The new, 32,000-sq.-ft. headquarters was built in 1991 as the headquarters for Services Group of America.

Seattle -- Nordstrom on Thursday reported an 11% decline in its second quarter profit, with its performance affected by the timing of its biggest sale of the year. The retailer also raised its profit and sales outlook for the year, and said it would accelerate the expansion of its Nordstrom Rack outlet-store concept.

Reston, Va. -- U.S. online retail spending reached $43.2 billion for the second quarter, up 15% over a year ago, according to comScore.

It was the eleventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. The top-performing online product categories were: digital content & subscriptions, consumer electronics, flowers, greetings and gifts, computer hardware, apparel and Accessories. Each category grew at least 16% over a year ago.

Dublin, Calif. -- Epicor Software Corp., a global provider of business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organizations, and Ace Hardware Corp., the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, announced an extended three-year agreement.

Under the arrangement, Epicor serves as Ace Hardware’s only recommended point of sale solution provider, with Epicor Eagle business management software offered to Ace’s retailer owners.

Stamford, Conn. -- GE Capital Retail Bank, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Co., and Sam’s Club announced their multi-year agreement to continue providing the Sam’s Club credit card program to their Advantage and Business members.

GE Capital’s Retail Finance business will continue to manage the Sam’s Club relationship and service the account.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Corp. reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit amid efforts to control costs. Sales, however, disappointed.

The retailer posted a second-quarter profit of $240 million, down from $299 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales were $4.2 billion, down 1.0% from last year. Same-store sales decreased 2.7% for the quarter.