Order Fulfillment

Wal-Mart is closing the Moscow office it opened just a few years ago, saying it no longer wants to build an operation in Russia from scratch, though it remains open to acquisition possibilities.

Even though paper costs are ratcheting up, printing costs are still at an all-time low. It's pretty straightforward to compare competitive printing bids, but it gets tricky comparing co-mail costs and postage. Why is it so complicated? It seems printers want to keep it that way. Margins in printing are razor thin, and the profits for printers are in their co-mail programs.

While a story reviewing this year's retail bankruptcies isn't generally considered something to cheer about, the good news is there were 56 percent fewer of them than in 2009.

Zumiez Inc. said that its third-quarter profit more than doubled to $12.3 million, or 40 cents a share, from $5.1 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Dollar General Corp. has begun upgrading many of its stores, with the hopes of attracting a wider demographic, including more affluent consumers, according to the Financial Times.

Apple has launched a pilot of its EasyPay custom mobile retail software in a trial with Gap subsidiary Old Navy, opening a new market for the iPod touch in hand-held payment transactions.

Lida Orzeck co-founded her intimate apparel company 33 years ago. Last year she finally took the company online to retail customers.

Tiffany & Co.'s fiscal third-quarter profit climbed 27 percent, and core results handily topped analysts' expectations as sales and margins rose.

Footwear discount retailer DSW Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter earnings rose by one-third on higher sales. The company again raised its current-year forecast, now projecting earnings of $2.30 to $2.40 a share on same-store sales growth of about 12 percent.

Belk, a 305-unit department store chain, has embarked on a three-year, $150 million IT transformation designed to enhance the retailer's business capabilities and performance.