Finance & Capital Management

Seattle – Amazon.com reported a second quarter net loss of $126 million, compared to a net loss of $7 million in the same period last year, as it continues to spend heavily on investments. The loss was nearly double what Wall Street higher expected. Operating expenses rose 24% to $19.36 billion.

Net sales increased 23% to $19.34 billion in the second quarter, compared with $15.70 billion in second quarter 2013. Net sales met Wall Street expectations. A favorable change in foreign exchange rates boosted revenues.

San Francisco – Williams-Sonoma Inc. has shuffled the positions of several top executives. Chief strategy and supply chain officer Dean Miller has been named COO, and chief marketing officer Pat Connolly will assume the position of chief strategy and business development officer.

Atlanta – A variety of costs drove net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 at Aaron’s Inc. down 67% to $8.5 million from $25.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Expenses related to Aaron’s April 2014 purchase of lease-to-own company Progressive Finance Holdings, as well as advisory and strategic costs and costs related to store closures, impacted net earnings.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. is reportedly in negotiations with the state of New York to resolve a dispute about the terms of an agreement to sell numerous items to New York state agencies and qualifying non-profits for a penny each. According to the Wall Street Journal, Staples agreed to honor the one-cent prices on 219 items for three years in order to win a state office and school supplies contract.

Milwaukee – The board of directors of Roundy’s Inc. has named Michael Turzenski, currently Roundy’s group VP and chief accounting officer, as group VP, CFO. Turzenski replaces Darren Karst, who is leaving the company to become CFO of Rite Aid Corp. as of Aug. 10.

Turzenski has served in his current role since February 2012. Turzenski joined Roundy’s in 2007 as VP, controller.

As part of its continued growth strategy, Williams-Sonoma made several organizational changes to its management team.

Chief marketing officer Pat Connolly has been elevated to chief strategy and business development officer. Connolly will work closely with senior management to refine the company’s long-term strategy, including the development of new businesses, and the evaluation and execution of acquisitions and alliances that can provide significant growth.

After 40 years in the beer business, Molson Coors Brewing Company president and CEO Peter S. Swinburn is retiring from the company and its board of directors on December 31. The board has named Mark R. Hunter, currently CEO and president of Molson Coors Europe and a 25-year industry veteran, as his successor.

PepsiCo announced that James Schiro has resigned from the company's board of directors for health reasons, effective immediately.

Schiro is the former CEO of both Zurich Financial Services and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was elected to PepsiCo's board of directors in 2003 and served as the company's presiding director from May 2010 to May 2013. Most recently, Schiro served on PepsiCo's nominating and corporate governance committee and its compensation committee.

A heightened emphasis on e-commerce, store closures and operational efficiencies are among the strategic initiatives underway at Aaron’s where the operator of 2,100 stores is looking to restore growth of furniture, electronics, appliances and accessories.

The company posted disappointing second quarter results which prompted CEO Ronald Allen to elaborate on several strategies the company had highlighted earlier this year.

New York -- American Apparel Inc. announced  four new directors to its board, including the company’s first-ever female board member, Colleen Brown, a former CEO of Fisher Communications, and former Walgreens executive Joseph Magnacca, who took the reins as CEO of RadioShack last year.  

The other new directors are  David Glazek, a partner with hedge fund Standard General, which holds a nearly 44% stake in American Apparel, and Thomas J. Sullivan, a director of Media General.