Finance & Capital Management

Undeterred by bad weather and competitive pressures that took a toll on its first quarter performance, Dollar General is pressing ahead with plans for 700 new stores, recently opened its 12th distribution center and believes its full year profit forecast is attainable.

Kraft Foods Group has named George Zoghbi as vice chairman of operations, R&D, sales and strategy, a newly created position. He will report directly to CEO Tony Vernon.  

The company said that it created the new role to “bring together the expertise of several key areas under one leader, including research & development, which creates innovative new products and manages quality improvements, to the manufacturing and sales teams that make and ultimately deliver Kraft's products to customers.”

Lumber Liquidators has formalized its compliance and sustainability team headed by Raymond Cotton, who was appointed as chief compliance and sustainability officer in February and reports directly to president and CEO Robert M. Lynch.

Cotton manages the company’s quality assurance, sustainable sourcing, loss prevention, risk management and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements of global trade.  

Hudson's Bay Company more than doubled sales in the first quarter driven primarily by its acquisition of Saks last year.

Retail sales were $1.9 billion, an increase of $971 million from $884 million for the prior year. Consolidated same-store sales increased by 2.8%, with increases of 2.5% at DSG, 2.6% at Saks Fifth Avenue and 15.1% at Off 5th. Digital commerce sales totaled $207 million, reflecting both the inclusion of Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor (which together are referred to as “Department Store Group” or DSG) and Saks.

Burlington, N.J. -- Burlington Stores announced that Thomas A. Kingsbury, the company’s CEO and president, has been unanimously elected as chairman of the board.

“We are excited to elect Tom to chair the board of directors of Burlington Stores,” the board said in a statement. “He has done an outstanding job as CEO since he joined the company in 2008. The growth of the business has been impressive under Tom’s leadership and we look forward to this continuing under Tom’s expanded role as chairman and CEO.”

New York -- 99 Cents Only Stores named Christopher Laurence as the company's interim CFO, treasurer and secretary. Laurence replaces Frank Schools, who resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Laurence most recently was CEO of ThreeSixty Group, a product development and sourcing company for consumer product brands and retailers.

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. exceeded Wall Street estimates with both its net income and net sales performance during the first quarter of fiscal 2014. In addition, the retailer said it plans to open 17-20 new stores while closing 10 existing stores during the full fiscal year.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. has opened its 12th distribution center in Bethel, Pennsylvania. Dollar General announced plans to build the 930,000-sq.-ft. facility in 2012 and broke ground on the facility in fall 2012 with Kinsley Construction.

New York – Edward H. Finkelstein, former chairman and CEO of the company now known as Macy’s Inc., died of natural causes at his home in Thousand Oaks, California, on May 31. He was 89.

Finkelstein led Macy’s in the 1970s and 1980s and launched concepts including the Aeropostale apparel chain, which was later sold off, as well as several private brands. Finkelstein left the company in 1992 after 44 years, following a bankruptcy filing.

San Diego - Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC) has entered into a binding contract to acquire Fallbrook Shopping Center for $210 million in cash. The property is located in West Hills, California, and has approximately 1.12 million sq. ft. of gross leaseable area, of which 98% is currently leased.

ROIC expects to close the transaction during the second quarter of 2014.