Finance & Capital Management

Thibodaux, La. -- Southern grocery store operator Rouses Markets will take ownership of six former Belle Foods stores in Alabama from Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), a retail-owner cooperative of which Rouses Markets is a member. AWG and its group of grocers and operators submitted the winning bid last week at the Belle Foods bankruptcy auction in Birmingham.

This is Rouses Markets' first expansion into Alabama. The company currently operates 38 stores in Louisiana and Mississippi. Three new stores in Louisiana were also recently announced.

Montreal -- Luxury jewelry store operator Birks & Mayors Inc. announced that effective Oct. 1, its corporate name will be changed to Birks Group Inc. and its ticker symbol will be changed to BGI.

Altoona, Pa. -- Joe S. Sheetz, executive VP of finance and store development for Sheetz, will assume the position of president and CEO, beginning Oct. 1.

Current chief executive Stan Sheetz leaves the presidency after 18 years and will stay active in the convenience store chain in the role of chairman.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart announced that Kathleen McLaughlin, 48, has been named president of the Walmart Foundation, effective Oct. 15.

In addition to leading corporate giving, she will have responsibility for the company's global sustainability, women's economic empowerment initiatives and healthier food initiatives.

McLaughlin, previously a senior partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, is a dual American-Canadian citizen and was based in Toronto.

New York -- Tesco Plc’s Fresh & Easy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a plan to sell most of the U.S. chain’s 167 stores to a private equity firm led by billionaire Ron Burkle.

Fresh & Easy cited debt between $500 million and $1 billion in a court filing on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. According to the documents, a unit of Tesco will end up with a 22.5% stake in the Yucaipa affiliate that acquires the supermarket chain.

New York -- Holiday sales will rise 3.4% sales increase, slightly stronger than last year, for the traditional November-December holiday period, even though retailers are expecting a more modest spending season, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Additionally, ICSC anticipates that the other two measures of U.S. industry holiday sales will both increase over last year.

Hollywood, Calif. – On Sept. 26, 2013, the board of directors of Frederick’s of Hollywood Group Inc. received a non-binding proposal letter from a consortium of HGI Funding LLC, TTG Apparel, LLC, Tokarz Investments, LLC, Fursa Alternative Strategies LLC, and Arsenal Group LLC to acquire all of the outstanding shares of its common stock.

New York -- Fairway Group Holdings Corp., parent company of the Fairway Market grocery chain, has signed a long term lease to open a 52,242-sq.-ft .grocery in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood with commercial realtor Jack Resnick & Sons.

This store is expected to open in fall 2014. It will be the first Fairway location in Lower Manhattan and the 16th Fairway food store in the tri-state New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region.

Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm today announced its 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action with a purchasing plan of $35 million in handcrafted products through 2015, a 40% increase in spend during the next two years. West Elm, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands, also pledged to make and source these products from businesses adhering to high social responsibility, health and safety standards, meeting local laws, best industry practices and the brand’s vendor code of conduct.

Virginia Beach, Va. — Leslie’s Poolmart has signed a lease for 5,200 sq. ft. in the Academy Crossing Shopping Center in Portsmouth, Va. Divaris Real Estate represented the landlord, Midlantic Builders VA in the transaction.

Other tenants at Academy Crossing include Coldwell Banker, Gymboree, Beadworks, Serenity Nails and Rita’s Pizza.