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Wal-Mart quarterly profit growth missed Wall Street's expectations, as the economy continues to weigh on customers at Wal-Mart. Still, key sales at those U.S. discount stores rose more than expected, reversing a string of nine quarterly declines.

WASHINGTON — Retail sales edged up slightly during the month of October, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Tuesday. Adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, sales totaled $397.7 billion. Retail trade sales rose 0.6% above September and 7.3% above the year-ago period. Adjusted grocery store sales increased to $46.8 million from $46.3 million in September, while health and personal care stores saw adjusted sales of $23.3 million from $23.1 million last month. Although advanced estimates for pharmacies and drug stores are not included in the report, the Census Bureau disclosed that adjusted

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar has entered the state of California, opening four stores, in Ontario, Rialto, Riverside and Fontana. The discounter plans to open 450-500 new stores in fiscal 2012.

New York City -- Saks Inc. reported Tuesday that profit for the quarter ended Oct. 29 slid to $17.8 million from $36.3 million a year earlier, still beating Wall Street expectations. Last year’s results were boosted by a large tax reserve-related gain. Revenue rose 5% to $692.3 million from $658.8 million, surpassing analysts’ predictions of $690.6 million. Results were boosted by more full-price selling and fewer promotions.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples Inc. reported Tuesday that profit for the third quarter climbed 13% to $326.4 million, from $288.7 million a year earlier. Earnings met Wall Street expectations. Revenue rose 1% to $6.57 billion from $6.54 billion, missing analysts’ expected $6.71 billion. North American retail unit revenue was flat at $2.7 billion, with same-store sales down 1%. International revenue slid 7% on a local currency basis to $1.3 billion, leading the retailer to adjust its full-year forecast downward. "International results were weaker than expected as tight expense management was more than offset by very challenging top line trends,"

The lines between Thanksgiving and Black Friday are blurring this year and some aren't happy about it. More than 15,000 people have signed a petition at Change.org asking Target not to open at midnight on Thanksgiving as planned and to open at 5 a.m. on Friday instead to allow workers to spend more time with their families.

Plano, Texas -- It’s official: Two more Apple Retail veterans are joining their former boss Ron Johnson at J.C. Penney Co. The news came as J.C. Penney reported a third-quarter net loss of $143 million and issued a tepid holiday forecast. J.C. Penney named Michael W. Kramer, CFO of Apple Retail from 2000 to 2005, as COO. Kramer has been the president and CEO of Kellwood Co. since 2008, where he oversaw a portfolio of fashion brands. He also served as executive VP and CFO at Abercrombie & Fitch, from 2005 to 2008. "Mike is an extremely talented executive,

Sears stores will open at 4 a.m. Black Friday, reversing last year’s decision to open on Thanksgiving Day. Sears stores will remain closed this Thanksgiving to give its store employees and their families the ability to celebrate the holiday.

Williams-Sonoma is the first omnichannel retailer to enable consumers to purchase and send electronic gift cards with their smartphones. Working with CashStar, the retailer is adding the ability to purchase and send e-gift cards via all five of its brands' mobile websites.

ATLANTA — Stormy weather around the country had something to do with Home Depot's third quarter sales gain of 2.9%. So did strength in core categories. The world's largest home improvement retailer posted a 4.2% comp-store sales gain for the quarter ended Oct. 30. Total sales increased 2.9% to $17.326 billion. And even bigger growth came in the net earnings column, where Home Depot reported a 13.0% increase and net earnings of $934 million. “Our third quarter was driven by strength in our core categories and storm-related sales as well as strong operating performance,” said Frank Blake, chairman &