Finance & Capital Management

Jacksonville, Fla. - Stein Mart is opening 11 new stores this year as part of the company's accelerated store growth that began in 2014. The new stores include the company's March opening of the first-ever San Francisco Bay area location in Cupertino, California, and 10 additional stores opening in the fall.

This is an increase from the company's earlier estimate of 10 new stores for 2015 announced in November. In 2014, Stein Mart opened nine new stores.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. is separating its college business from its retail and Nook digital businesses. The planned separation of Barnes & Noble Education (which comprises the Barnes & Noble College business) will, when consummated, create two independent, publicly traded companies.

The separation is intended to be a tax-free distribution to Barnes & Noble shareholders and is anticipated to be completed by the end of August 2015, subject to customary conditions.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN Inc. had a successful fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, beating Wall Street estimates for both net income and sales. Net income rose 11% to $68.3 million from $61.6 million, while net sales grew 10% to $1.12 billion from $1.1 billion.

Digital grew 12%, reaching a milestone of representing more than half HSN’s business. Mobile remains the company’s fastest-growing platform with growth of 40% in the quarter.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree reported that its net income dropped 13% to $206.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, down from $239 million in the year ago period. The quarter included $6.7 million in acquisition-related costs associated with the pending merger with Family Dollar Stores Inc.

Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack Corp. will reportedly auction the leases of 2,000 stores in March, while GameStop has entered the picture as a bidder. According to Reuters, the bankrupt retailer received court approval to hold the auction on March 17 with Standard General making an initial “stalking horse” bid of $200 million and will move the date back to March 23 if more bidders emerge.

Fort Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS Inc. announced plans to open 40 new stores and spend $30 million rolling out new POS systems, including mobile technology, in fiscal 2015. But the retailer also said it would shutter 120 existing locations over the next two years to improve its overall store fleet productivity and slash jobs. The closings are expected to ultimately result in expense savings of approximately $55.2 million upon completion.

Austin, Texas -- Retail Properties of America, Inc., closed on the acquisition of Cedar Park Town Center, a 181,000-sq.-ft. community center located in Cedar Park, an Austin, Texas submarket. The purchase price was $39.1 million.

The property is situated at the intersection of two major freeways, with visibility and access to more than 73,000 vehicles per day. Cedar Park is shadow-anchored by Costco and is 94.5% occupied and leased to a lineup of national and regional tenants, including At Home, Chipotle, BJ’s Brewhouse and In-N-Out Burger.

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., will open a new store in north Jacksonville, Florida.  The opening is slated for Feb. 28.

The new store is located in Highland Square at Dunn Avenue and Monaco Drive off Interstate 95. Florida is the retailer’s third largest state with a total of 25 stores. Including this new location, dd’s Discounts will operate over 150 locations in 15 states.
 

Off-price department store operator Steinmart is looking to capitalize on favorable business trends this year with an aggressive expansion plan that will see the company add 11 new stores.

The Jacksonville, Fl.,-based operator of 270 stores had indicated last fall it would open 10 new stores this year, but after reporting better than expected sales results the growth target was increased by one location. Steinmart opened nine new stores last year as part of a renewed commitment to physical expansion.

Apparently a lot of consumers shopped for lingerie and bath products this holiday season, if the profits at L Brands Inc. are any indication.

The Columbus, Ohio-based parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works reported that it earned $564.8 million, or $1.89 a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $489.6 million, or $1.65 a share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 7% to $4.07 billion and same store sales rose 6%.