Finance & Capital Management

Continued softness in mall traffic and lower-than-expected sales from its September fashion show have prompted Christopher & Banks to cut its sales forecast for the third quarter of fiscal 2014.

Atlanta - Havertys sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2014 increased 3% to $198.5 million, compared with $192.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Same-store sales increased 3.5%.

Havertys plans to open four new stores by the end of the year. Clarence H. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Havertys, said sales for the quarter did not meet expectations.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects sales in November and December (excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales) to increase a healthy 4% to $616.9 billion, higher than 2013’s actual 3% increase during that same time frame. This would mark the first time since 2011 that holiday sales would increase more than 4%.

Frankfort, Ill. – Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s Investment Sales team recently brokered the sale of Prairie Crossings Shopping Center in Frankfort, Illinois. The 109,079-square-foot center was purchased by Oak Brook, Illinois.-based Inland Real Estate Corporation for $24.66 million.

Dallas -- Cypress Equities companies announced that Cypress Lake Pleasant, LP, a new affiliated partnership, has purchased the fee simple interest in the Lake Pleasant Crossing shopping center in Peoria, Arizona.

Cypress previously held a ground lease interest in the property, having developed the existing shopping center and Lowe’s Home Improvement Center on the site. With the purchase, Cypress is in the process of making several upgrades to the existing center as well as planning for the second phase of development.

Burlington, N.J. - Affiliates of Bain Capital Partners LLC and certain other stockholders of Burlington Stores Inc. intend to offer eight million shares of the company’s common stock in an underwritten public offering. The offering consists entirely of secondary shares to be sold by the selling stockholders.

Burlington Stores will not sell any shares in the offering and will not receive any proceeds from the offering. J.P. Morgan is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.

Minneapolis - Christopher & Banks Corp. is cutting its sales forecast for the third quarter of fiscal 2014, based on sales trends to date for the quarter. The company believes sales have been negatively impacted by continued softness in mall traffic and lower than expected sales from its September fashion show, as the demand for fashion merchandise exceeded planned inventory levels, as well as due to late receipts associated with the West Coast port disruptions.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in Kansas on Oct. 11. The store is located in Schulman Crossing in Garden City.  

This new opening is part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.