Finance & Capital Management

Walmart’s Japanese subsidiary Seiyu plans to close 30 stores and remodel 50 others next year in an effort to strengthen its every day low price strategy.

Specialty retailer Tile Shop announced a senior leadership transition involving long time CEO Robert Rucker and current COO Chris Homeister.

The company said Homeister, a former Best Buy merchant who joined Minneapolis-based Tile Shop a year ago, would be elevated to the role of CEO effective Jan. 1. He replaces current CEO Robert Rucker who founded the company 29 years ago. Rucker will remain with the company on a full time basis until Aug. 1, 2015 as an advisor and board member.

Bridgestone Americas announced that TJ Higgins has been named president of the consumer U.S. and Canada divisions for the company's tire operations, effective Nov. 3. Higgins succeeds Gordon Knapp, who became COO of Bridgestone Americas in March. 

Higgins brings more than 20 years of consumer products marketing and strategic business experience to Bridgestone. He most recently served as the North America regional president for Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and also held leadership roles at Merck and Vlasic throughout his career. 

Milan, Italy –- Specialty eyewear retailer Luxottica Group S.P.A. reported increases in profit and revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income grew 10% to $259.2 million from $236.8 million in the third quarter of the prior fiscal year, while net sales rose 5% to $3.01 billion from $2.85 billion.  

El Segundo, Calif. –- Although Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. saw its net income decline 17% to $7.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $9.1 million in the same period a year earlier, the retailer still beat Wall Street profit expectations. Big 5 also surpassed Wall Street forecasts with net sales of $265.1 million, up 2% from $259.1 million.   

Fort Worth, Texas -- Harry J. Wilson, founder and CEO of The MAEVA Group, will serve as the chief revitalization officer of RadioShack, reporting to RadioShack CEO Joe Magnacca and the RadioShack board. The MAEVA Group, a specialist in corporate restructurings, will provide advisory services to RadioShack's board of directors and management as the company moves forward with its operational and financial turnaround efforts.    

Menlo Park, Calif. –- Net income soared 90% to $806 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $425 million in the same quarter a year earlier, as part of strong overall performance by Facebook Inc. A sharp increase in operating income helped drive the net income growth.  

San Diego –- PriceSmart Inc. reported net income of $21.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, up 5% from $20.8 million in the same quarter the prior fiscal year. However, this was still beneath Wall Street expectations. However, PriceSmart beat Wall Street projections with total revenue of $622.6 million, a 5% hike from $585.4 million. The addition of two new warehouse stores, bringing the total to 33, helped boost revenues.

IKEA has appointed Stefan Sjöstrand president of its Canadian organization after he has previously served as SVP, IKEA France.

With this move Sjöstrand is bringing global insights gathered from many years of working with IKEA to the Canadian market, as well as a proven track record of achieving business success through people development, according to the company. 

Weaker than expected third quarter sales prompted Kohl’s to lower its profit forecast while noting that e-commerce sales increase 30%.

The company held an investor conference on Oct. 29 and said third quarter sales were expected to decline 1.4% due to softer than expected sales during October. The top line weakness caused the company to confirm that profits would be at the lower end of a previously forecast range of $4.05 to $4.45 a share.