Finance & Capital Management

By Craig Johnson, Customer Growth Partners   With a third straight year of dismal retail spending, American consumers will generate only a lackluster 3.4% year-over-year increase in holiday sales, well below the 5% pace in 2010 and 2011, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 14th Annual Holiday Forecast.   

Michael Bauersfeld has resigned as Sun Products Corporation’s vp, corporate controller and treasurer to pursue other interests.

The company has appointed Jody L. Macedonio, currently the company’s vp, finance and planning, to the additional role of treasurer, responsible for all treasury functions at the company including investor relations. 

Kevin Page, currently the Sun’s director of financial operations has been designated as interim corporate controller.

Dallas –- Tuesday Morning Corp. cut its net loss almost in half to $6.23 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $12 million in the same period the prior fiscal year. Net sales increased 10% to $202.2 million, compared to $183.7 million.    Same-store sales increased 11%. The retailer credited the turnaround phase of its ongoing transformation program for creating the generally encouraging results.  

Indianapolis –- Consumer electronics retailer Hhgregg Inc. swung from profit to loss in a generally difficult second quarter of fiscal 2014. Hhgregg reported a net loss of $10.38 million, compared to net income of $3.68 million in the same quarter the prior fiscal year. Net sales dropped 11% to $505.86 million from $568.31 million. Same-store sales declined 11.4%. Growing expenses and declining gross profit helped push the chain into the red.

Seattle –- Starbucks Corp. topped off a generally successful fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 by swinging to net income of $587.9 million from net loss of $1.23 billion the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year. The removal of a one-time arbitration charge of $2.8 billion helped bring Starbucks into the black.  

Camp Hill, Penn. –- Same-store sales increased 5.5% in Oct. 2014 at Rite Aid Corp. compared to the same month in the prior year. Total drugstore sales rose 5% to $2.06 billion compared to $1.96 billion.   October front-end same store-sales increased 2%. Pharmacy same-store sales, which included a negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 7.1%.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to close about 30 underperforming Seiyu stores in Japan. Wal-Mart first invested in Seiyu in 2002 and took full control of the chain in 2008.  

Walmart’s Japanese subsidiary Seiyu plans to close 30 stores and remodel 50 others next year in an effort to strengthen its every day low price strategy.