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OfficeMax said Thursday that executive VP and COO Sam Martin has left the company, effective July 21, to become CEO of another public company. OfficeMax has not said where Martin is going.Chairman and CEO Sam Duncan will assume Martin’s COO duties, effectively immediately, and said the office supplies retailer will not immediately seek a replacement for Martin.However, the company announced earlier this year that Duncan himself is slated to retire in February 2011, noting that it had begun the search for a new CEO.Martin was named COO of OfficeMax in 2007. Duncan credits him as having had an integral

Home Depot has received a $112,000 fine from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for allegedly failing to correct previously cited safety hazards at its West Nyack, N.Y., store according to an article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. According to the article, the store was cited for failing to provide suitable emergency drenching facilities for employees in the paint department, plumbing department and the cleaning supplies department, as well as storing incompatible chemicals together.Click� here� to read the full story.

Target Corp. said Friday it has named Matt Zabel as VP government affairs, effective Aug. 23.Zabel will be based in Washington, D.C. and will oversee teams in both Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.Matt Zabel, 42, joins Target from U.S. Senator John Thune’s office where he has served as chief of staff since 2004. Prior to his current role, Zabel held various positions with the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of Justice and was an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University.�

Wal-Mart Stores plans to roll out electronic tags to keep track of individual garments like jeans and underwear, in a move that would help the retail giant control its inventories better, the Wall Street Journal said. Beginning in August, Wal-Mart [ WMT 50.86 +0.00 (+0.00%) ] will place removable radio-frequency ID tags on individual garments that can be read by a handheld scanner, the Journal said. The tags will help Wal-Mart workers to quickly learn which garments are missing from the shelves, the paper said. The aim of rolling out the electronic tags is to ensure shelves are

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Home-improvement retailer Lowe`s said Thursday it is planning to open its first Canadian outlet outside the province of Ontario. The new store will be located in CrossIron Mills, Alberta, and will be followed by the opening of two more stores in Sunridge Mall and Shephard, in Calgary, Alberta in 2011.In addition to stores in Calgary, the retailer said it is also working on plans to open outlets in the Canadian cities of Edmonton and Regina.

Duane Reade said Friday it has promoted Joe Magnacca from executive VP and chief merchandising officer to president. Magnacca joined Duane Reade in October 2008 as senior VP and chief merchandising officer. He was subsequently promoted to executive VP while retaining his merchandising responsibilities.Duane Reade was acquired earlier this year by Walgreen Co. for nearly $1.1 billion. The company said that Duane Reade CEO John Lederer will continue to work with John Spina, Walgreens VP retail integration and new format development, on the integration of the two companies.

Amazon.com's second quarter net sales increased 41% to $6.57 billion, and net income increased 45% to $207 million. The company reported rapid growth in third-party and retail sales and said it is building 13 new fulfillment centers to support its own sales and its Fulfillment by Amazon service. Amazon.com's unit sales grew 39%, with third-party units accounting for 32% of total units. Amazon had 118 million active customers at the end of the quarter, and sales in North America (U.S. and Canada) were up 46% year-over-year to $3.59 billion. eBay released its second quarter results on Wednesday, reporting 13%

Wal-Mart Stores could potentially open hundreds of stores in India if the country opens up the sector to foreign direct investment, the chief of its Indian joint venture told Reuters on Thursday.

Scott Silverman, who has served as Shop.org's Executive Director since 2001, is resigning his position as head of the trade group, NRF announced today. Silverman has accepted an executive-level and co-founder position with an e-commerce start-up and will step down from Shop.org effective Aug. 13. In a recent blog post, Silverman outlines the reasons behind his decision to leave, saying that, after being surrounded by innovative entrepreneurs for more than a decade, he now has "an opportunity to jump into the game." .