Finance & Capital Management

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Alasdair James has joined the company as president and chief member officer for the Kmart business.

James is a seven-year veteran of Tesco, where he held roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as commercial director for the company's global business unit. Prior to that, he spent two years managing Tesco's China operations as executive VP and commercial director.

Unprecedented volatility and declining milk volumes caused leading dairy supplier Dean Foods to report a second quarter loss and suspend full year guidance.

Sales increased to 9% to $2.4 billion, but the company reported an adjusted loss of $13 million, or 14 cents a share, compared to a prior year adjusted profit of $24 million, or 26 cents a share.

Philadelphia -- Capping a turbulent summer for maternity apparel retailers, Destination Maternity CEO Ed Krell has resigned effective immediately, and will be replaced by Anthony Romano, former CEO of Charming Shoppes, Inc.

Sears Holdings has appointed former Tesco executive Alasdair James as president and chief member officer for the Kmart business.

In this role, James will be responsible for driving the Kmart format strategy, managing the Kmart P&L and aligning merchandise, marketing, pricing and selling with the needs and wants of Shop Your Way members.

ConAgra, one of the world’s biggest food companies, has begun its search for new CEO, following Gary Rodkin’s announcement to the board that he plans to retire at the end of the company’s fiscal year, May 2015.

The board of directors has established a search committee, led by independent director Richard Lenny, to identify Rodkin’s successor. Lenny is the former chairman and CEO of The Hershey Co. and has served on the ConAgra Foods board since 2009.

RuMe, an earth friendly lifestyle brand, has appointed Farhan Yasin to its board of directors. Yasin joins RuMe's board to provide strategic guidance on the company's continued innovation and expansion within e-commerce, business operations and managing its rapid growth.

Seattle – Online specialty jewelry and diamond retailer Blue Nile Inc. reported net income of $2.17 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, a 1% drop from $2.2 million in the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. Net sales also decreased 1%, to $1.06.6 million from $108 million.

Blue Nile cited falling diamond prices as having an adverse effect on its financial performance during the quarter.

A more cautious consumer led to weaker-than-anticipated traffic at Hibbett in the second quarter, prompting the sporting goods retailer to revise its earnings expectations for the full year.

Net sales for the 13-week period ended August 2 are expected to increase 4.2% to $194 million compared with $186.2 million for the year-ago period. Comparable store sales are expected to increase 0.1% for the quarter.