Finance & Capital Management

Former AutoNation CFO Michael Short will become the new CFO at Toy’s “R” Us on June 23 to replace Clay Creasey who left the retailer after eight years.

In 1975, when I started what would become Rexall Sundown, the world was a very different place. Gerald Ford was in the White House, there was no social media and the TV universe was limited to three networks and a few local channels.

The company behind leading sporting goods brands Bauer and Easton went public on January 19, offering sports enthusiasts and investors an opportunity to get in the game.

Performance Sports Group, trading under the symbol PSG on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, offered roughly seven million shares priced at $15.50 which generated gross proceeds of $110 million. In conjunction with the offer, the company changed its name to Performance Sports Group from Bauer Performance Sports.

Suburban Atlanta will be home to Keurig Green Mountain’s new manufacturing facility used to produce new cold products resulting from its new partnership with Coca-Cola.

Just two weeks after Family Dollar adopted a “poison pill” shareholder’s rights plan, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who recently disclosed he has a 9.4% stake in the discount retailer, has fired back.

In an open letter to Family Dollar chairman Howard Levine, Icahn demanded that the company be put up for sale immediately. Icahn also said in the letter that he wants three of his representatives added to the Family Dollar board immediately and will take his proposal for a sale directly to shareholders if management doesn’t support it.

After helping brands such as Michael Kors, Coach, J Crew and Victoria’s Secret develop and execute digital strategies, Ian Cohen has joined the nation’s largest rent-to-own company as vp of omnichannel.

New York -- Coach plans to shutter about 70 underperforming stores in fiscal 2015, Crain’s New York reported. The retailer, which has been under heavy competitive pressure from Michael Kors and other upscale companies, also gave a disappointing revenue forecast for its current fiscal year.
   

Cincinnati – Kroger Co. reported a 4% increase in its first-quarter profit, helped by the addition of Harris-Teeter, which the grocery giant acquired in January 2014. Kroger raised its net earnings and same-store sales forecast for the fiscal year.
   
The company earned $501 million in the quarter, up from $481 million in the year-ago period. The payment of $56 million to withdraw from two pension funds negatively impacted Kroger’s net earnings.

Camp Hill, Pa. – Rising drug costs and falling reimbursements, as well as higher income tax expense, significantly cut into profits at Rite Aid Corp. Net income dropped 55% to $41.4 million in the first quarter, from $91 million in the year-ago period. Its earnings matched analysts' expectations.
 
Improving pharmacy sales helped drive a 3% increase in revenue to $6.47 billion from $6.29 billion, above Wall Street projections. Same-store sales rose 3.1%. Rite Aid maintained its fiscal 2015 earnings and revenue predictions.

Coppell, Texas – Alco Stores Inc. reported a net loss of $8.1 million in the first quarter of its fiscal year, up from a loss of $1.7 million in the year-ago period, amid an elimination of a tax benefit. The company also announced its CFO has left the company.

Net sales decreased 4.1% to $104.7 million, compared to $109.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Same-store sales, excluding fuel centers, decreased 7.1%. Alco president and CEO Richard Wilson cited several ongoing initiatives as providing promise for future performance.