News

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — BJ's Wholesale Club is capitalizing on the growing demand for locally-grown produce by launching its "Farm to Club" program in each of its 195 clubs in 15 states. Rolling out this spring and summer, the Farm to Club program includes a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that will be clearly marked with a special "Farm to Club, Locally Grown" seal.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu Inc. reported Tuesday that it swung to a loss of $424 million in the quarter ended Feb. 25, compared with a $95 million gain a year earlier. Results were negatively impacted by charges related to store closures and employee layoffs, but still beat Wall Street expectations.

By Steve Friedman, [email protected]

MINNEAPOLIS — After nearly 30 years, Brian Dunn has resigned as CEO and director of Best Buy. According to the company, Dunn's decision to resign was mutually agreed upon with the company and was not the result of any disagreement with himself and Best Buy. Director G. Mike Mikan has been named interim CEO to lead the company while a search for a new CEO is underway. Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, continues to serve as chairman.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot said Tuesday it has joined Supplier Connection, a group of 15 large businesses committed to driving small business growth by simplifying access to their global supply chains.

Supplier Connection streamlines the application process for small businesses seeking to become suppliers to the group. Through the web-based portal, small businesses have the opportunity to present their goods and services to many large enterprises with the goal of winning contracts, expanding business and creating jobs.

MINNEAPOLIS  — Costs related to workforce reduction contributed to $424 million, or $2 per diluted share loss, at Supervalu for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. For the quarter, net sales were $8.2 billion. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, the company reported net sales of $8.7 billion and net earnings of $95 million or 44 cents per diluted share.

New York -- Facebook will purchase the photo-sharing application Instagram for about $1 billion in cash and stock, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday. The deal, which is the social-networking company’s largest acquisition to date, is expected to close later this quarter.

Instagram was named iPhone app of the year in 2011.

Facebook will acquire Instagram's entire team as part of the deal.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples has awarded five small businesses $50,000 in free advertising and cash as part of the “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest. 

Selected from hundreds of video entries submitted on Staples’ Facebook page (facebook.com/staples), each of the five small businesses will receive a total of $50,000 in local cable television advertising and cash in their home markets.

The winners include: