Finance & Capital Management

By Jason Christoff, PE, LEED AP BD+C

The way business is executed within the retail construction industry may never be the same. The Great Recession is finally behind us, but it has changed how retailers deliver stores, as well as how architecture and engineering professionals design them. The A/E delivery model is constantly being reimagined to meet the needs of the changing market, but typically not as quickly or drastically as within the last five years.
 

Fremont, Calif. -- The Men's Wearhouse has completed its acquisition of one-time-rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers. The combined company has more than 1,700 stores, approximately 26,000 employees and sales of $3.5 billion on a pro forma basis.

The final price tag to combine the two retailers was $1.8 billion, or $65 per share.

Specialty retailer Batteries Plus Bulbs is doubling down on its existing device repair business with plans to have the service in more than 650 stores by yearend.

Since August of last year, device repair was being tested in 40 markets nationwide and had grown to 275 stores, however the popularity of the service among consumers combined with the surging popularity of smartphones, iPods, tablets and other devices prompted the decision to expand the service to all stores, according to the company.

San Jose – PayPal is reportedly expanding the customer service center located in its European headquarters based in Dundalk, Ireland. According to the Irish Independent, PayPal will make a “massive investment” in the center in the next four years that will add 400 workers.

The expansion will bring the combined PayPal-EBay workforce in Dundalk to 1,850. New jobs will include customer solutions, risk operations and telesales positions.

Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. on Wednesday said it plans to withdraw from two multi-employer pension funds and will incur a charge of $56 million in the first quarter as it contributes that amount to restructure its pension obligations. The move is in line with the retailer’s desire to exert more control over employee-retirement programs.

Plano, Texas -- Garden Ridge announced that it is investing $20 million to rebrand all of its stores to the At Home brand.

"Our new name, At Home, better reflects our company's home décor heritage, as well as our aspirations for the future. By aligning our in-store transformation and merchandise offerings, the new brand best positions us to succeed as we move forward with our expansion strategy," said CEO Lee Bird.

New York -- Michaels Cos. seeking as much as $528 million in its U.S. initial public offering, Bloomberg reported. The arts and crafts retailer is offering 27.8 million shares at $17 to $19 each, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
 
The IPO is being managed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Michaels was taken private in 2006 by Bain Capital and Blackstone Group in a $6 billion leveraged buyout. Each firm will own 40% of the company after the offering, the report said.

Who doesn’t have a website these days? Plenty of small business, according to Go Daddy, the domain name registrar looking to convince investors of its untapped growth potential ahead of a public stock offering.

Even though Go Daddy already has 57 million domain names under management and 12 million customers, the company contends only about half of the nation’s 28 million small businesses have a Web site. In addition, Go Daddy’s 57 million domain’s represent about 21% of the 270 million domain names registered world wide.