Finance & Capital Management

If Amazon makes good on its guidance for the second quarter, sales during the period ended June 30 rose somewhere between 15% and 26% to range from $18.1 billion to $19.8 billion.

Leading footwear manufacturer and retailer Wolverine World Wide plans to close 140 stores in the next 18 months as part of a strategic realignment plan focused on strengthening omnichannel capabilities.

Most of the stores to be closed operate under the company’s Stride Rite banner. Sixty of the units will close by year end with the remainder to close next year, the company said. The disclosure was made in conjunction with the release of solid financial results for the company’s second quarter ended July 14.

Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS Caremark said Monday that it has agreed to buy the assets of Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy, the largest Hispanic-owned drug store chain in the U.S. The transaction includes Navarro's 33 retail drugstore locations and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases.

New York -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba increased its valuation to $130 billion less than a month before its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new figure is approximately $13 billion more than the company valued itself at in its original filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

Alibaba is expected to raise more than $20 billion, which would make it one of the largest offerings ever.

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea is submitting plans to Clark County, Nevada, for a Las Vegas-area store that would increase the Swedish retailer’s presence in the western United States.

The application marks the beginning of an approval process that could lead to the store’s opening as early as summer 2016.

New York -- Barbara Turf, 71,  former CEO of Crate and Barrel, died July 12, at Evanston Hospital, of pancreatic cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Turf was named CEO in 2008, after Crate & Barrel founder and longtime chief executive Gordon Segal retired. She joined Crate and Barrel as a part-time saleswoman in 1967, moving to its corporate headquarters in 1974. Turf retired as CEO in 2012 and joined the company's board of directors, the company said in a statement.

Atlanta -- Consumer spending slowed in June but remained positive on a year-over-year basis with a growth of 3%, according to First Data SpendTrend analysis, which tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million merchant locations serviced by First Data.

Bentonville, Ark. – Comedian Tracy Morgan has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores claiming the company was negligent in a June 2014 automobile accident involving one of its truck drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike. On June 7, Wal-Mart truck driver Kevin Roper, 35, allegedly swerved to miss an auto on the New Jersey Turnpike and instead struck a limousine bus carrying Morgan and several associates.

New Albany, Ohio - Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has initiated a process to refinance $500 million in existing credit facilities to two new facilities worth a total of $750 million. Proceeds are expected to be used to pay off a remaining $131.5 million balance and outstanding borrowings of $60 million related to existing credit facilities, and to pay related fees and expenses associated with the transaction.  

Union, N.J. - Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, senior unsecured notes due 2024, senior unsecured notes due 2034 and senior unsecured notes due 2044 under a shelf registration on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bed Bath & Beyond intends to use the proceeds from this offering for share repurchases of its common stock and for general corporate purposes.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers.