Finance & Capital Management

SANTA ANA, Calif. — AlignMed, a developer of wellness wear, has appointed Robert J. Meers as the company’s CEO. He will be charged with driving the company’s growth and strategic direction.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys "R" Us reported a loss of $111 million for the first quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $60 million. It was the struggling chain’s worst quarter in a decade.

Net sales for the quarter, ended May 4, declined 7.8% to $2.4 billion. Same-store sales were down 8.4% domestically and fell 5.8% internationally.

New York -- Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island (New York) and in Virginia were charged on Monday of harboring and hiring dozens of illegal immigrants and paying them using sham Social Security numbers.

Long Beach, Calif. -- Nordstrom announced plans to close its Long Beach City Place Nordstrom Rack store in Long Beach, Calif. Originally opened in August 2002, the 33,000-sq.-ft. store will close to the public in late January 2014.

The company will continue to serve customers at three nearby Nordstrom Rack locations in Lakewood, South Bay and Edinger.

New York -- Sixty-percent of retailers have energy management systems within their site portfolios, but only 46% have a formal energy management strategy in place.
 
Those are among the findings of a survey conducted by Ecova, a total energy and sustainability management company. In other survey findings, 44% of the respondents said they currently benchmark their portfolio or sites, and 21% have applied for the Energy Star label for their portfolio.

New York -- Despite continuing economic uncertainty, new data from KPMG indicates retailers are ready to invest capital to spur growth this year. The 2013 KPMG Retail Outlook Survey shows that 85% of retail executives expect capital spending will increase or remain the same during the next year. When asked where they will increase spending most, executives most frequently cited geographic expansion (61%), IT (40% and advertising and marketing/branding (24%).

San Jose -- Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of the filing, Orchard Supply has reached an agreement for Lowe’s to purchase acquire the majority of its assets for $205 million in cash, plus the assumption of payables owed to nearly all of Orchard’s supplier partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Lowe’s, serving as “stalking horse bidder,” would acquire no less than 60 of Orchard’s stores, based on further due diligence on the store locations.

New York – Improvements in real home prices, initial unemployment claims and real wages drove an increase in the Deloitte Consumer Spending Index last month. The Index, which comprises four components of tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices, rose slightly in May to 4.27 from a reading of 4.12 the previous month.

New York -- Foot Locker has received approval from the Federal Cartel Office in Germany to complete its acquisition of Runners Point Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH (RPG), initially announced in May 2013. RPG is majority owned by private equity group Hannover Finanz and operates more than 200 specialty athletic retail stores in Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Switzerland under various banners, as well as an e-commerce site.

The transaction, valued at roughly $94 million, is expected to close early next month.

Plans to acquire at least 60 stores from bankrupt Orchard Supply Hardware give Lowe’s an increased presence in California and a new small format with expansion potential.

Lowe’s said early Monday that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Orchard, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to acquire the majority of Orchard’s assets for approximately $205 million in cash and assume payables owed to nearly all of Orchard’s supplier partners.