Finance & Capital Management

The CEO search continues at Crocs, but the casual footwear maker does have a new president.

Atlanta – Havertys has promoted four executives to VP positions. Richard Gallagher was promoted to executive VP merchandising; Bonnie Berry was promoted to VP HR; Greg Johnson was promoted to VP distribution; and Jim Presmanes was promoted to VP risk management and insurance.   

For a couple years now, outlet centers have been moving from the outskirts of cities closer and closer to downtown. Howard Hughes Corp.’s Outlet Collection at Riverwalk is the first to make it all the way downtown — into the center of the newly rebuilt New Orleans.

Slated to open on Memorial Day weekend, the former 200,000-sq.-ft. Riverwalk Marketplace has expanded into a 250,000-sq.-ft. outlet center following a $70 million redevelopment.

Covington, La. — Stirling Properties has acquired John Toomey & Co., a commercial real estate company based in Mobile, Alabama. Stirling will add Toomey’s 1.8-million-sq.-ft. portfolio to its own, bringing the total to 15.5 million sq. ft.

John Toomey and his team will join Stirling Properties, with Toomey serving as broker/new business development coordinator for the Mobile area.

Chicago -- General economic conditions, federal, state and/or local regulations, and retail competition/consolidation ranked as the top three risk factors cited by retailers, according to a survey by BDO USA. Rounding out the top five: U.S. and foreign supplier/vendor concerns and labor (health coverage, union concerns, staffing) concerns.            
 

New York – Macy’s Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with profits of $224 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, up 3.2% from $217 million in the same quarter the prior year.

Earnings rose even as sales fell 1.7% to $6.38 billion, from $6.39 billion. Same-store sales declined 0.8%. Increased operating income and decreased cost of sales helped boost net income, while severe winter weather took a toll on sales.

Ace Hardware president and CEO John Venhuizen called the company’s first quarter the "best for both revenues and net income in its 90-year history," thanks to strong performance in its core categories.

The co-op reported total revenues of $1.1 billion for the first quarter, up 16.8% from the same quarter last year. Net income was $24.4 million, up from $4.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

New York – Kate Spade & Company earned net income of $46 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. This marked a return to profitability after a net loss of $52 million in the prior year period.