NEW YORK — Target Corp.’s launch of its latest limited edition collection, by designer Jason Wu, went off relatively problem-free compared with its Missoni launch last fall.

The 53-piece Jason Wu collection of dresses, skirts and accessories made its debut on Sunday, and flew off the shelves, selling out in stores and online within hours. Unlike with the Missoni launch, however, the Target website did not experience any website outages. In a surprise move, the collection went live on the Target website in the early hours of Sunday (just past midnight), with was no official announcement about when the items would be available online.

"We're really proud with how the website performed," said Target spokesman Joshua Thomas, in the Minneapolis StarTribune.

However, shoppers expressed frustration about the scarcity of Jason Wu items, which was made worse by consumers who snatched up the goods in mass quantity. In one widely-reported account, a couple cleaned out a Miami Target of its entire collection in one fell swoop.

 A reported 11,000 items were on eBay by the end of the day.

 Despite the collection’s popularity, Target will not replenish its stores with additional products, except for returns.

HONG KONG — Walmart's Greg Foran will be packing his bags and heading to China. The SVP for Walmart International has been named CEO of Walmart China, effective March 1, and will relocate to China, pending work visa approval.

Foran joined Walmart in October 2011 following a long career with Woolworths' where he worked his way up from stocking shelves to heading the company's supermarket division. Other roles he had at Woolworths included general manager of Big W, the company’s discount department store division, and Dick Smith, which specializes in consumer electronics.

Foran studied at the New Zealand Institute of Management and then completed his executive management and advanced management studies at the University of Virginia and Harvard University respectively.
  As Ceo of Walmart China, Foran will oversee 100,000 associates and over 370 store units.

“With his distinguished career in retail, Greg is uniquely qualified to lead our growing business in China,” said Scott Price, president and CEO of Walmart Asia and interim CEO for Walmart China. “I’m very pleased he is bringing his talents to help us continue Walmart’s expansion there and enhance our efforts to help Chinese customers save money so that they can live better.”

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Representatives of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, a private foundation created by CVS Caremark, kicked off a "Day of Giving" on Tuesday by surprising several nonprofits with the grant funding they had requested.

The visits, hosted by several of the company's executives, were timed to coincide with the announcement that $4.3 million has been awarded in grants to 98 nonprofit organizations across the country in 2011, which includes multiyear grants from previous years.

The new grant recipients were chosen through the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust's annual grant cycle, in which awards range from $10,000 to $50,000 for one-year support. These grants align with the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust's efforts to improve the quality of health and well-being of underserved populations, and also align with CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a signature program of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust and CVS Caremark that is committed to supporting children with disabilities.

"We are so excited to help these nonprofit organizations start 2012 in a positive way with much-needed funding," stated Eileen Howard Boone, VP of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust. "All of the nonprofit organizations we support share our commitment to providing greater access to health care and medical services, and improving the lives of children with disabilities. The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust is honored to work with all of its nonprofit partners to help people on their path to better health."

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples in bringing a bit of Martha Stewart style to its stores through an exclusive line of home office products.

The Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery product line is now available at Staples stores across the United States and Canada and on Staples.com. Products range in price from $1.99 to $16.99 and include accordion files, journals and organization binders. 

Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, said, "I am very happy to launch this new collection with Avery Dennison and Staples. Developing this line has been a wonderful opportunity to focus on what busy, modern households and home-based entrepreneurs really want and need in a home office organization system. I'm pleased to offer a full range of well-designed products that are as beautiful as they are functional to inspire consumers and help them to organize their projects while also coordinating and enhancing their home office environment."

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu continues to implement its strategic plan to remove permanent expenses and cut down operating costs with plans to reduce its national work force by an estimated 800 positions. The affected positions include those at all company offices and crosses most departments, excluding, for the most part, store level associates. Associates whose positions are eliminated will be eligible for severance and outplacement services based on the company's eligibility guidelines.

Supervalu said the reductions will take place by the end of the company's fiscal year on Feb. 25 and will include both current positions and open jobs that will not be filled.

“These reductions are necessary to help further strengthen and accelerate Supervalu’s business turnaround in a very competitive marketplace,” said Craig Herkert, Supervalu's CEO and president. “While the announcement of a work force reduction is difficult news to share, due to its direct impact on our associates, these changes will allow us to better connect with customers and put more authority in the hands of people who interact more closely with our customers.”

Supervalu's strategic plan, which it introduced last year, focuses heavily on improving its retail business through planned price reductions and an emphasis on hyperlocal retailing at its more than 1,100 traditional retail stores across the country. In addition, the company said it remains focused on investing capital into the growth of Save-A-Lot, its national, hard discount grocery store chain, as well as continuing to expand its wholesale distribution business to its more than 2,000 independent retailers nationwide.

In its most recent quarter, Supervalu reported a wider net loss on larger write-down’s and weaker sales. The company reported a net loss of $750 million, including non-cash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges of $800 million after-tax, from a loss of $202 million a year ago. Same-store sales fell 2.9%, while net sales fell 4% to $8.33 billion, below analysts' average forecast of $8.42 billion.