Finance & Capital Management

New York -- J.C. Penney CEO-designee Marvin Ellison, who officially takes over on Aug. 1, outlined three key areas the company will focus on in the coming months in a presentation on Wednesday at the Piper Jaffray conference, The Street reported.  

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Whole Foods Market, whose mission includes a promise toward the humane treatment of animals, is winning accolades for its animal welfare practices.

The company has been recognized with a Good Sow Commendation and a Global Good Egg Award from Compassion in World Farming.

Boutique retailer Francesca's efforts to improve same store sales achieved disappointing results in the first quarter.

The company said same-store sales declined 2% due to lower transaction count, although direct-to-consumer sales rose 19%.

Houston – Increased selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) led to net income at Francesca’s Holdings Corp. dropping 18% to $7.24 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $8.56 million the same period a year earlier.

Net sales fared better, rising 11% to $95.01 million from $85.42 million, helped by the opening of 76 new stores in the preceding 12 months.

Same-store sales declined 2% due to lower transaction count, although direct-to-consumer sales rose 19%.

Montreal – A reduction in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses helped elevate net earnings at Dollarama Inc. 22% to $64.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 from $53.2 million the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. Sales increased by 13% to $566.1 million from $501.1 million, aided by both new store openings and same-store sales growth of 6.9%.

Los Angeles -- American Apparel announced it has appointed Brian McHale as senior VP and CIO, with responsibility for overseeing information technology and computer systems. In addition to providing critical support to American Apparel’s onsite hardware and software applications, McHale will also lead the development and expansion of the company’s retail digital capabilities alongside Thoryn Stephens, recently appointed chief digital officer.

The CFO of PetSmart Inc. has been appointed to the board of directors for Crocs Inc.

Carrie Teffner, the executive vice president and chief financial officer for PetSmart Inc., joined the board June 9.

Crocs also announced that current director Peter Jacobi is voluntarily retiring from his position.

Target is doubling the amount of its share buyback authorization from $5 billion to $10 billion and boosting its quarterly dividend by 7.7%, confirming the contents of a statement it published inadvertently and took off its website earlier on Tuesday.