Finance & Capital Management

It’s official. Following a strategic review of the company’s growth strategies and structure, the eBay board has approved a plan to separate the company’s eBay and PayPal businesses into independent publicly traded companies in 2015, subject to customary conditions.

Men's Wearhouse has named Scott Norris as Men's Wearhouse brand and Moores brand president and Paul Fitzpatrick as Jos. A. Bank's brand president. Additionally, it has appointed Jim Thorne EVP of direct sourcing. All three will report to Mary Beth Blake, the company's president and chief merchandising officer.

American Express has promoted Neal Sample, currently Enterprise Growth’s chief information officer and chief marketing technologist, to president. He will report to American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault and will serve as a member of the company's operating committee.

Sample replaces Dan Schulman, formerly group president of Enterprise Growth, who has resigned his position to become CEO of eBay’s spun-off PayPal business.

Walgreens posted fourth-quarter sales of $19.1 billion, representing an increase of 6.2% compared to the year-ago period, while sales for the fiscal 2014 ended Aug. 31 increased 5.8% to a record $76.4 billion.
 

By Matthew K. Harding, president, Levine Management

Moving into the final months of 2014, the outlook for retail in the Northeast remains quite positive. We are seeing demand from national, local and franchise companies across a broad range of categories.
 

London – A group of U.K. retailers led by W.M. Morrison Supermarkets plc is reportedly seeking to extend the time period for which it can claim antitrust damages against MasterCard from 2006 to 1992. According to Bloomberg, this could add as much as $1.6 billion to the damages the retailers are seeking.

New Albany, Ohio – A federal judge has reportedly rejected an Aug. 29 settlement of a lawsuit over the pay received by co-CEO Michael Jeffries. According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge James Graham in Columbus, Ohio, said shareholders belonging to the City of Plantation, Florida Police Officers' Employees' Retirement System, who challenged the $140 million in pay and additional travel expenses Jeffries has received since 2007, give up too much in the settlement.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in Hawthorne, California, in Los Angeles County, on Oct. 11. The store is located in the Hawthorne Town Plaza.

This new opening is part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Alpharetta, Ga. - McAlister's Deli has signed an agreement with new franchise group MidSouth Hospitality Inc. to open 10 locations in Middle Tennessee. Led by McAlister's veteran Charles Corley, MidSouth Hospitality will be opening its first McAlister's in early 2015.

The newly formed company plans to open a total of 10 new restaurants during the next seven years.

New York - MG Properties, the real estate investment and development arm of McCourt Global, is entering an equity and development partnership with Hines, the international real estate firm, on the development of its mixed-use project at 360 Tenth Ave. in New York City. MG Properties and Hines have selected SHoP Architects to design the project.

In 2013, 360 Tenth Avenue was purchased from Sherwood Equities for approximately $167.5 million. The property is zoned for up to 733,406-sq.-ft. of Total Zoning Floor Area (ZFA).