Finance & Capital Management

Jos. A. Bank continued the positive trend of increases in adjusted earnings that it saw in the second half of 2013. Comparable brand sales increased by double digits in the first two months of the first quarter, and despite slowing down after Easter, still resulted in an 8.4% increase.

According to a Reuters report, Amazon is making headway into the online payments arena, which has long been dominated by PayPal.

The article says Amazon will start managing subscription payments for startups and other companies as soon as Monday. The service, according to the report, will allow the company's more than 240 million active users to use credit card details stored on Amazon.com to pay for services such as a monthly phone bill or a digital music subscription — for a fee on each transaction payable to Amazon.

The OurPet's Company, a leading proprietary pet supply company, has promoted Gabriella DeSantis to VP of marketing.

DeSantis joined the company in July 2012 as senior director of marketing and has been responsible for overseeing the execution of the company's new two-brand marketing strategy. The company also credits her with the successful launch of several new products.

Ulta Beauty has announced that Vanessa Wittman, SVP and CFO of Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility, has been appointed to its board and as a member of its audit committee.

Activist investor Carl Icahn on Friday reported a 9.4% stake in Family Dollar, making him the company’s largest shareholder and prompting concerns of a hostile takeover.
 
Family Dollar has responded by adopting a one-year shareholder rights plan with a 10% trigger that would prevent any investor from gaining a controlling interest of the company without board approval.
 

Silicon Valley saw some drama late Monday when PayPal announced that president David Marcus was leaving to lead Facebook’s messaging products.

The split was amicable with eBay president and CEO John Donahoe wishing Marcus well at Facebook.

Oak Brook, Ill. — The Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. has appointed Chong P. Huan chief information officer. He will direct all information technology initiatives for Inland and its member companies. In addition, Huan will serve as CEO of Inland Computer Services, Inland’s in-house IT and computer services department.

Fayettville, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO Doug McMillon told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on Friday that the company would accelerate the pace of change going forward. Presiding over over his first shareholders’ meeting since being named chief executive, McMillon put a big emphasis on technology, saying that the chain needs to be “at the forefront of innovation and technology.”

Atlanta — Shapewear wholesaler and retailer Spanx announced that Jan Singer has been named CEO of the company. She joins Spanx from Nike, where she held various senior leadership roles, including corporate VP of global apparel and corporate VP of global footwear.  

Singer, who will report to Spanx founder and owner Sara Blakely, is expected to come on board in early July.  Gregg Ribatt, interim CEO, will assist Singer through a transition, and then continue to serve on the company’s board of advisors.

Commerce, Calif. and Herzogenaurach, Germany — At the recent SAP Sapphire 2014 conference, 99 Cents Only Stores and Adidas AG both detailed how they are using different SAP solutions in different ways for the same ultimate goal – increased accessibility and transparency of data.