Finance & Capital Management

Seattle – Starbucks is opening three new stores in Hanoi, Vietnam. The stores will add to Starbucks’ established Vietnam presence of eight stores in Ho Chi Minh City.

Starbucks opened the first of the three stores on July 23. All three will be located near shopping malls or office buildings. Starbucks is not publicly saying how many stores in Vietnam it ultimately plans to open. The company first entered the Vietnamese market in 2013.

 

Dallas - On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, has appointed Ward Whitworth as president of On The Border. The move follows the resignation of On The Border CEO Steve Clark, who has committed to stay on for a period of time in order to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership.

A jump in mobile ads and daily users contributed to another strong quarter for Facebook — one that also beat analyst expectations.   For the second quarter ended June 30, total revenue rose 45% to $9.32 billion. This is a significant jump from $6.436 billion for the same period in 2016.    Revenues for the quarter also beat analyst forecasts of $9.20 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. This is the ninth straight quarter that Facebook has exceeded analyst expectations.  

Oak Brook, Ill. — Inland Real Estate Income Trust announced the acquisition of the 86,800-sq-ft. Pick ‘n Save Shopping Center in West Bend, Wisconsin. Lou Quilici, senior VP of IREIT Business Manager & Advisor, Inc., assisted Matthew Tice, VP of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions in the purchase of the property.

A $500,000 grant from the Sam’s Club Giving Program will help fund an innovative program to provide technical assistance to small child care operators in low income communities.

Whirlpool Corporation reported net sales of about $4.7 billion in the second quarter of 2014, virtually unchanged from the company's performance in the same quarter last year.

Net sales for the three months ended June 30 totaled $4.68 billion, down 1.4% from $4.75 billion in 2013.

The company's bottom line read $179 million for the quarter, down from $198 million in the second quarter of last year.

Framingham, Mass. - Cumberland Farms, is launching its free SmartPay Check-Link Business payment program, which enables business owners to save 10 cents on every gallon of gas for their fleet of vehicles. SmartPay Business offers two ways to save – the SmartPay Business Card and the SmartPay Business Mobile App.

Washington, D.C. -- Slower-than-expected growth during the first half of the year caused the National Retail Federation to lower its retail sales forecast for 2014. NRF said it now expects sales will grow 3.6% in 2014, down from its earlier forecast of 4.1%. The group joined other industry experts in forecasting a pick-up in activity in the next five months.