Finance & Capital Management

Dr Pepper Snapple Group has promoted Heather Catelotti to VP of investor relations. Catelotti will report directly to CFO Marty Ellen.

The move comes following Carolyn Ross’s elevation to SVP, strategy and innovation. Ross will continue to report to Ellen.

Houston – Stage Stores Inc. reported a net loss of $18.79 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, up from a net loss from $6.86 million in the same period a year earlier. Net sales slightly declined to $372.04 million from $372.1 million, while same-store sales decreased 0.2%.

Framingham, Mass. – The TJX Cos. Inc. increased both net income and sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2015 on a year-over-year basis, although sales missed analyst projections. Net income grew slightly to $454.32 million from $452.89 million, while net sales increased 5% to $6.49 billion from $6.19 billion.

Analysts had expected net sales of $6.6 billion. Same-store sales remained flat. Carol Meyrowitz, CEO of TJX, blamed soft apparel sales for the miss on expected net sales.

Atlanta – Severe weather dampened net income and sales growth at The Home Depot during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, causing increases in those figures to fall short of Wall Street estimates. Net income improved 17% to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion.

As HSN breaks ground on its fourth Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County home this month, HSNi Cares, the philanthropic arm of HSN's parent company HSN Inc, is set to launch a national campaign June 1 in support of Habitat for Humanity International.

Customers from these brands will have the opportunity to make a donation in support of the campaign when making purchases online and over the phone from June 1-30.

New York – J. Crew is reportedly planning to expand into Asia. According to the Wall Street Journal, J. Crew will open two new stores in Hong Kong on May 21.

The Hong Kong stores will be J. Crew’s first Asian stores since it closed its stores in Japan in 2008. In 2012, J. Crew said it planned to open stores in Hong Kong, and the U.K., and opened three U.K. stores in 2013. The retailer plans to open five or six stores in Hong Kong in the next few years, and may also open new stores in Japan.

Gordon Brothers Group, a global advisory, restructuring and investment firm specializing in the retail, consumer products, industrial and real estate sectors, has appointed Michael P. Muldowney as CFO. Muldowney also serve as a member of the executive committee.
 
Prior to joining Gordon Brothers Group, Muldowney was the founder and CEO of Foxford Capital, a strategic, financial advisory and investment management firm. Prior to this role, he served as interim CEO, EVP and CFO of global education leader, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Washington, D.C. – Organized retail crime (ORC) is down slightly from 2013 but still a pervasive problem. According to the National Retail Federation’s 10th annual Organized Retail Crime Survey, which polled 76 senior retail loss prevention executives, eight-in-10 (88.2%) retailers report that they have been a victim of ORC in the past year, down slightly from 93.5% in 2013.