Finance & Capital Management

The Clorox Company has promoted Nick Vlahos, currently SVP and chief customer officer, to EVP and chief operating officer of household, lifestyle and core global functions, a position previously held by retiring EVP-COO George Roeth.

In this role, Vlahos will have responsibility for the charcoal, Glad, cat litter, food, Brita and Burt's Bees business operating units. He will also have responsibility for the company's marketing, sales, product supply and research and development functions.

Coppell, Texas – An increase in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses driven by growing costs of advertising, new stores and store support helped Alco Stores Inc. swing to a net loss of $7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 from net earnings of $800,000 a year earlier.

Net sales dropped 6% to $110.7 million, from $117.7 million. Same-store sales declined 8.9%.

Chicago -- The strategic merits of Burger King Worldwide's leveraged buy-out of Tim Hortons Inc. will be tested by Monday's enactment of tightened U.S. Treasury tax rules on U.S. companies seeking to re-domicile their headquarters in countries with more favorable tax systems, according to Fitch Ratings. The new regulation is meant to reduce the attractiveness of inversions and is effective immediately.

Following fourth quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations, Ascena Retail is looking ahead to fiscal 2015, which CEO David Jaffe said will see the continuation of a critical, multi-year investment to build the company’s omnichannel platform.

The company reported net earnings of $15.7 million, compared with $29.8 million in the year-ago period.

Washington, D.C. -- Real estate brokerage house Cassidy Turley has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of DTZ Investment Holdings to be acquired for an undisclosed sum. The buyer group is comprised of TPG, PAG Asia Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which is acquiring DTZ and Cassidy Turley, then combining the two into one global company with revenues of more than $2.9 billion and more than 28,200 total employees.

Both acquisitions – of DTZ and of Cassidy Turley – are expected to be completed prior to year-end 2014.

Steamboat Springs, Colo. - Point6, a manufacturer, distributor and retailer of performance-oriented socks, has implemented NetSuite's cloud-based business management suite that provides the company with capabilities to run its core business operations including financials, inventory management, order management, fulfillment and warehouse management. This modernization effort has helped Point6 streamline the order to cash business process.

Seattle -- REI announced that Annie Zipfel has been promoted to senior VP marketing. With her, REI will not hire a chief marketing officer as previously announced, but instead add a senior creative leader to the company.

Zipfel joined REI in 2012 as the divisional VP customer marketing, and was named VP of the marketing division in January 2014. Prior to REI, she held leadership and strategic roles at Target and General Mills.

Just three weeks after Alco appointed a brand new board of directors, the company reported a net loss of $7 million in the second quarter, compared to net earnings of $800,000 a year earlier, thanks in part to growing costs of advertising, new stores and store support.