Finance & Capital Management

New York -- L'Oreal USA will acquire New York-based omnichannel beauty retailer Carol's Daughter, which sells its products through specialty beauty stores, mass retailers, HSN, e-commerce and two Carol's Daughter-branded stores in New York City.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has acquired Action Pest Control as it looks to leverage the equity of its Ortho brand and drive growth in the $7 billion pest control industry.

Hicksville, N.Y. --Sleepy's announced that with the grand opening of its new location in Joliet, Ill., the privately-owned mattress retailer's store count reached a landmark 1,000 stores. "It is with great pride that we announce our thousandth-store milestone," said Sleepy's president, David Acker. "Sleepy's has been around since 1957, and we are very proud of this latest accomplishment. It won't stop here."

Strong international growth offset a decline in domestic sales at WD-40 where the company produced its highest volume fourth quarter ever.

Total net sales for the period ended August 31, increased 4% to $97.6 million while full year sales increased 4% to $383 million. WD-40 has a strong international presence and the impact of currency exchange rates favorably impacted results. On a constant currency basis total net sales were $93.9 million for the fourth quarter and $377.7 million for the full fiscal year.

Seattle – Starbucks Coffee Co. is increasing the pay and relaxing the dress code of its U.S. store employees to allow for tattoos and other forms of self-expression to show.  

New York -- At least 47% of U.S. merchant terminals will be enabled for EMV chip technology by the end of 2015, according to the Payments Security Task Force (PST). The estimates are based on forecasts provided by acquirers representing approximately 80% of U.S. purchase volume.  

Philadelphia –- Urban Outfitters Inc. is warning that continued negative same-store sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 may have an impact on quarterly earnings. The specialty apparel chain said declining same-store sales could deleverage gross profit margin for the third quarter at a rate greater than during the first half of the year, leading to dampened profits.  

Washington, D.C. -- September retail sales, excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, decreased 0.1% seasonally adjusted month-to-month yet increased 4.6% unadjusted year-over-year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), seasonal factors played a role, but the drop-off from August was worse than expected.