Finance & Capital Management

Fort Worth, Texas – In what may be a tale of survival to rival the PT 109 ordeal of John F. Kennedy, RadioShack Corp. will exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy with some 1,700 stores intact.  

A bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the sale of 1,743 RadioShack stores to hedge fund Standard General, preserving some 7,500 jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Standard General intends to operate most of the preserved RadioShack stores in an alliance with Sprint Corp.

A plan to co-brand RadioShack stores with the Sprint logo will apparently save the chain from extinction, according to the Wall Street Journal.  

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC, a Wisconsin-based real estate firm, has reportedly purchased the lone Kmart store on the Hawaiian island of Maui, for $20.8 million. According to Pacific Business News, the 108,000-sq.-ft. building is part of a seven-acre parcel that had been on the market for $22.5 million.

Hendricks purchased the store from KM Maui Partners, who had been leasing the store back to Kmart.
 

Hong Kong – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has appointed Yu Yongfu as president of the company’s online marketing unit, Alimama, to spearhead the business into new areas of growth. Yongfu joined Alibaba Group in June 2014 to lead the company’s mobile business unit.

Prior to joining Alibaba Group, Yongfu was chief executive of Chinese mobile browser company UCWeb. UCWeb was acquired by Alibaba Group in June 2014. Yongfu will begin his new position today and will report to Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group’s COO.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holding Corp. is forming a real estate investment trust (REIT) called Seritage Growth Properties, which will purchase 254 Sears and Kmart stores for more than $2.5 billion. Seritage will partially fund the transaction through a public rights offering.

New York – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly asking suppliers to cut their product costs and also seeking to expand its grocery business. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is recommending that suppliers forego investing in joint marketing programs with the retailer and use that savings to reduce the price Wal-Mart pays for their goods.
 

Sears Holding Corp. is looking to raise more than $2.5 billion by selling its stores to a real estate investment trust.

The REIT, called Seritage Growth Properties, will purchase 254 Sears and Kmart stores for more than $2.5 billion and then lease back the Sears and Kmart stores to Sears Holdings. Seritage will partially fund the transaction through a public rights offering.

New York -- Europe's largest home improvement retailer, Kingfisher, plans to close about 60 underperforming B&Q stores in Britain amid a 7.5% decrease in annual profit, Reuters reported.

Currently, B&Q operates some 360 stores.

In other news, Kevin O'Byrne, CEO for B&Q U.K. and Ireland, will leave the company on May 15, the report said.