Finance & Capital Management

Vancouver – Lululemon Athletica Inc. is reportedly considering going private. According to the Wall Street Journal, advisors to Chip Wilson, founder, director and former CEO and chairman of Lululemon, have been speaking with private equity firms including Leonard Green & Partners about possibly taking the retail chain private, although no specific deal is imminent.
   

Deerfield, Ill. – Same-store sales at both Walgreens and Rite Aid increased in June, compared to the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales grew 7.5% at Walgreens and 3.9% at Rite Aid.

Calendar day shifts helped boost same-store sales at Walgreens, while the introduction of new generic drugs had a negative impact. In addition, Walgreens had June sales of $6.28 billion, an increase of 8.9% from $5.77 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open three new stores in Indiana on July 19. The stores include Waterford Park South Shopping Center in Clarksville, Shops on Main in Schererville, and Erskine Village in South Bend.  
    
These new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

New York -- Activist investor Jana Partners LLC disclosed it has acquired a 9.9% stake in PetSmart, according to a regulatory filing, and plans to ask the retailer to explore various options, including a sale. Jana, $10 billion firm hedge firm run by Barry Rosenstein, has a reputation for pushing corporate managements to make changes.

New York -- A physical store presence is key to most retailers for their online growth strategy, according to a new report by Moody’s Investor Services. Based on existing data, Moody’s estimate online sales as a percent of total retail sales are just 6% today, and will increase to 7.1% by 2016, and potentially reach a double-digit (mid-teens) share of the total retail sales pie in about five years.

June was a good month for two of the nation’s largest drugstore operators. Walgreens reported sales of $6.3 billion for the month, an increase of 8.9% as compared to the same month in fiscal 2013, while Rite Aid realized a 3.9% same-store sales increase for the four weeks ended June 28.

Total front-end sales at Walgreens increased 1.8% in June compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.3%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2% while basket size increased 3.3%.
 

The nation’s largest pet specialty retailer could be in for a long summer now that activist investor Jana Partners is pressing for a review of strategic alternatives after acquiring a 9.9% stake in the company.

New York -- Shrinkage levels average 1.27% of sales, which translates to a $57 billion loss to the industry, according to the U.S. Retail Fraud Survey, which is based on research into the systems and strategies used by 100 leading North American retailers.

By Kevin Smith, VP of onshore corporate services for ImpactWeather

According to Forrester Research, weather is the leading cause of business disruptions¹. From commodity demands and supply chain interruptions to community assistance, retailers know the power that severe weather has over their economic profits and losses.

NEW YORK — Hornig Capital Partners, a privately held New York City-based investment company, has combined in a joint venture with Hutensky Capital Partners of Hartford, Conn. to acquire the Golden Gate Shopping Center in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in the greater Cleveland region. The joint venture purchased the property from Forest City Enterprises for $47,050,000, together with B&D Holdings, making it one of the largest single asset retail deals in the region during the past 24 months.