Finance & Capital Management

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly seeking to keep files regarding an internal probe of possible bribes paid to Mexican officials to aid real estate deals out of the hands of investors. According to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart is arguing in a case before the Delaware Supreme Court that the files in question are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Lumber Liquidators doesn’t report its second-quarter results until July 31. But reduced customer traffic along with weak macroeconomic trends related to residential remodeling and a drop in home sales have prompted the company to revisit its outlook for the quarter and full year.

The company’s net sales for the quarter increased 2.3% to $263.1 million, from $257.1 million in the prior-year quarter. At comparable stores, however, net sales decreased 7.1% for the quarter, in comparison to an increase of 14.9% for the second quarter of the prior year.  

Sacramento, California — West Coast shopping center owner/operator Pacific Castle has acquired four Sacramento-area properties for approximately $40 million, signaling an ongoing trend to add to the company’s diversified portfolio.

Cal-Maine Foods isn’t due to report its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended May 31 until the end of the month, but already it has reached annual sales of more than 1 billion dozen eggs for fiscal 2014 with an expected total of 1.014 billion dozen fresh eggs sold.

The milestone marks a new record year of sales for Cal-Maine Foods and the first time any domestic or world egg supplier has surpassed annual sales of more than 1 billion dozen eggs.

The nonprofit charity arm of Stater Bros. Markets has promoted Nancy Negrette to executive director.
 
In her new position, Negrette will work with Stater Bros. Charities CEO Sally Atkinson to oversee the nonprofit’s efforts in the areas the company’s employees work.
 

New York -- Ron Johnson, who has been keeping a low profile since he was ousted from J.C. Penney in April 2013, made a rare guest appearance at Stanford University. Johnson, a graduate of Stanford and a member of its board, was a guest speaker at the university's View From the Top series in May, where he discussed with Stanford Graduate School of Business students Penny, Apple and Target and the lessons learned over his career in retail.

Dallas — SRS Real Estate Partners has promoted Laura Tinetti to senior VP in the San Francisco office.

Tinetti joined SRS in 2006 and, in the past eight years, has completed more than 150 retail transactions valued at approximately $300 million.

The Container Store saw same-store sales in the first quarter slip 0.8%, putting an end to a 16-quarter streak.

“We thought our sluggish sales were all because of weather and calendar shifts that began last November and continued into the spring, but now we’ve come to realize it’s more than weather and calendar. Consistent with so many of our fellow retailers, we are experiencing a retail ‘funk,’” said chairman and CEO Kip Tindell.