Finance & Capital Management

Hhgregg president and CEO Dennis May said severe weather was one of the main factors that hampered the company’s results in the fourth quarter.

The company, which pre-released its fourth-quarter results a little more than a month ago, reported a net loss of $7.2 billion in the quarter, compared to net income of $9.9 million in the same period the prior fiscal year. Net sales dropped 10% to $538.3 million, from $597.6 million.

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.

Target continues to make leadership changes in the U.S. and Canada following Gregg Steinhafel’s ousting from the company in an effort to drive U.S. traffic and sales, improve its ailing Canadian operations and advance its ongoing digital transformation.

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.

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts is recruiting franchisees in Roanoke, Virginia. This month, the retailer signed a multi-unit store development agreement with existing franchisee Greg Nigro to develop 13 new restaurants throughout Richmond, Virginia.

Robert Price, former SVP and CMO for CVS, has been named president of Edible Arrangements International.

The operator of more than 1,100 stores worldwide is looking to Price to help significantly grow the brand's global presence.

Hamilton, Bermuda - Signet Jewelers Ltd. has closed the offering of $400 million senior unsecured notes due 2024 by Signet U.K. Finance PLC (a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Signet). The notes will bear interest at a rate of 4.7% per year and mature on June 15, 2024.

Minneapolis – The vast majority of Target customers intend to continue spending the same amount of money or more there in the next year as they did before the December 2013 data breach. According to a new Bloomberg National Poll of 1,020 Target customers, 85% of respondents will spend the same amount of money, 7% will spend more and 7% will spend less, with 1% having no opinion.